Cross Cultural Perspectives on Death and Dying (LC 677/877)
Prerequesites
LC 520
Date
Friday, June 13th – Monday, June 16th
Credit
2.0
Block
1
Course Description
Death and dying and the processes of grief and bereavement associated with it are universal experiences we humans share with all living beings and, within a Christian worldview, even with our Creator. While universal, these experiences are also highly subjective and intimate, informed and nuanced by the particularity of many factors, such as our theologies, our religious traditions, the socio-economic class in which we are born, and the cultural values with which we were raised. Seeking to expand the agenda of pastoral and spiritual care to honor and meet the needs of people as diverse as they come in our globalized world, this course focuses its attention on the variable of cultural diversity present in the USA. Beginning with their foundational knowledge of principles and practices of grief care students will be guided in learning about and responding to the pastoral and spiritual needs of some particular cultural groups, with a particular emphasis on end-of-life issues. The work of understanding and developing cross-cultural sensitive caring plans will require that students reflect on and own up to their ethnic background and culture of belonging concerning grief and approaches to death and dying so that they can then take a pastoral/professional leap into the experience of individuals and communities different from their own. The overarching goals of this course are: to grow cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity; to expand cross-cultural competence and humility about the diversity surrounding us; and to embody a prophetic pastoral posture in the delicate and sacred spaces of loss, which for some people becomes exacerbated by lack of cross-cultural sensitivity.
Professor
Francesca Nuzzolese
Contingent Faculty
Education
Doctor of Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary
Master of Theology, Melbourne College of Divinity
Bachelor of Divinity, International Baptist Theological Seminary
Diploma in Classical Studies, Liceo Classico Cagnazzi
Bio
Rev Dr Francesca Debora Nuzzolese is a pastoral theologian and psychotherapist. She fulfills her calling by engaging the academy, communities of faith, and the humanitarian sector. She has held tenured teaching and research positions in the USA and Australia and is currently involved in psychospiritual and trauma care education in the regions of Europe and the Middle East. Her main teaching areas are pastoral theology, spiritual formation, pastoral care, counseling, and trauma care. She is involved in private psychotherapeutic practice and spiritual direction, and consults with faith based NGOs on sustainability of care for anti-trafficking practitioners and first respondents in the European refugee crisis.
As a scholar, activist and clergywoman, Dr Nuzzolese is committed to the organic integration of theory and pastoral praxis, holding together issues of faith and social justice through research, advocacy and therapeutic intervention. The current focus of her research is the phenomenon of traumatization in which both humans and the planet are caught, due to the convergence of socio-economic, political and environmental forces. In her upcoming book, The World as a Trauma Zone, she draws from her therapeutic work with victims of labor and sexual exploitation and those who are dislocated due to forced migration to reflect on the impact of trauma in our shared human experience; and seeks to construct a theo-ethical response in the form of creative, radical and uncommon imagination.
Course Information
Course Goals & Learning Outcomes
- Intellectual: (1) Be familiarized with the socio-cultural, spiritual, ethical, and political factors that inform the experience of death and dying within different ethnic groups. (2) Articulate the importance of tending to the diversity of human experience, as it relates to ethnicity, when offering pastoral care in situations of grief and loss and when approaching end-of-life issues.
- Practical: (1) Reflect on their personal experience of grief and loss, as informed by their own ethnic identity and traditions; and write an individual paper, that demonstrates how they navigate their approaches to death and dying and the task of care to which they are called. (2) Develop a pastoral care method, which adequately tends to the grieving processes of individuals and/or congregations of a different ethnicity than the student. This should include rituals, resources, and community support that best match the needs and values of the ethnic group of their choice.
- Spiritual: (1) Develop a mature capacity to honor and respect the experience of the different ‘other’ while offering them authentic pastoral care and spiritual guidance. (2) Demonstrate that they are committed to ongoing spiritual care for themselves, as they model for others how to gracefully embrace the precariousness and vulnerability of the human condition.
Required Textbooks
Books with * next to them will have only selected required chapters and are uploaded on Canvas
Irish, Lundquist, and Nelsen (editors) Ethnic Variations in Death, Dying and Grief: Diversity in Universality. New York: Routledge, 1993.
*Harris and Bordere (editors) Handbook of Social Justice in Grief and Loss: exploring diversity, equity and inclusion. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Kelley, Melissa Grief: contemporary theory and the practice of ministry. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010.
*Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth On Death and Dying. New York: Scribner, 1969.
Is there pre-course work?
Yes. Before you join Zoom for your first synchronous class, you must complete the pre-class assignments consisting of reading, writing, and lectures. The written assignments must be submitted prior to the first class meeting so that they may be discussed.
What technology is required?
Students should expect to use their laptops, tablets, or any device with which they use to access the course materials, complete assignments, and join virtual meetings.
What will I need to have available during class?
As a reminder, this course is not being offered in person for the LTS June 2025 Summer Intensives session. A laptop, notebook, pens/pencils, assistive devices, etc. and any assignments or other needed materials will be listed in the course syllabus via Canvas.
What do I do if I have a connectivity or other issue during class?
Please contact the course professor, Registrar, and Instructional Designer with connectivity and other issues that arrise during your course.
Other Intensives Course Offerings
LM Block: LM 561 & LM 562
Sermon Preparation (LW 554)
Disciples History & Polity II (IP 670/870)
Living Theology in Appalachia: The Works of Fr. Rausch (IB 677/877)
Exegesis for the Church (IS 560)
IB Block: IB 551 & IB 552
