As Taboo as Sex: Prof. George E. Dickinson On Dying

Sociology Prof. George E. Dickinson gives

a presentation on Death,
Dying, and Bereavement
to our Beyond The Grave FYE class.

"None of us live forever. That's the safest thing I'll say this evening." said Prof. George E. Dickinson, with a smile in his voice and a vast understanding of knowledge in his wise eyes. The College of Charleston sociology professor had a lot to say on the topic of dying, death, and bereavement as he presented to the class the complexities of grief, the stages of acceptance the dying experience. and the societal taboo placed on the topic of death and dying.

Dickinson opened his presentation with a historical overview of death and bereavement in the United States. The three historical "periods" of death include Living with Death (1600-1830), Dying of Death (1830-1945), and Resurrection of Death (1945-Present).

Dickinson describes the first period of death as mostly concerned with fatalism and burials close to churches while the second period treats death with more a sense of beauty and less scary context as people began to design park-like cemeteries that families visited in order to picnic with the graves of their fallen relatives. The present period of death lacks a sense of beauty as death comes back into focus with current tragedies.

Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, Dickinson provided humor to the class, stating,“We joke about death like we joke about sex," a humorous and relatively shocking statement, as I never associate death and sex together. Dickinson did bring up an interesting point with this comment, as it is interesting how we as a society treat the idea of sex (or birth) and death with the same uncomfortable stare and shuffling feet, as the way our lives end and begin are not concepts that are socially acceptable to openly talk about. Dickinson also hinted on the bereavement process, and the various stages people go through accepting death.

Dickinson explained the euphemisms behind death, as people prefer to say someone has "passed away" rather than "died." Dickinson further divulged into "the American way of death" as he described why we embalm people, stating, “They used embalming to make em' look alive." Dickinson talked about earth burials as well as cryogenics, a near sci-fi concept where the near dead are frozen and preserved for when technological advances allow for the near deceased to continue living. I did not know cryogenics was a real burial, so I found his thoughts on the topic fascinating! Dickinson's thoughtful expression on death dying and bereavement made for a fascinating class that left my mind reeling with the interesting way Americans treat death and the stranger ways they deal with burying the dead!