Dying Well

"How does one go about dying?" the poet Franz Wright asked. "The world is filled with people / Who have never died." For a matter so inevitable, which the best minds of every generation have tackled, a good death seems increasingly out of reach.

As modern medicine racks up victories to ensure healthier and longer lives, a quieter, darker parallel story is emerging in even our finest hospitals: people die anxious and in pain, pursuing long-shot treatments instead of comfort.

Why is dying so difficult and how can we make death a better experience for others, and ultimately ourselves? This course examines notions of identity, hope, and what counts as a good outcome through a close reading of Paul Kalanithi's dying memoir When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal .

It then turns to how we make sense of suffering, anticipate and practice grief, and care for the memories of the dead through a reading of Michelle Zauner's Crying in H-Mart and Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking .

Finally, we consider philosophical reflections on mortality, including if death is bad, how death should change the way we live, and why we ought to strive to live and die with gratitude.