How Did The Students Prepare For
The Symposium?
The Symposium brought together First Year Seminars
from three different disciplines - American
Studies, Physiology,
and Sociology.
Each course focused on content specific to its own field
(click on a field for a course description), but also
shared and explored the themes of the Symposium:
-
cultural representations of birth and death
-
ethics and morality related to birth and death
-
disease processes and the impact of disease on
individual lives
-
the social and economic pressures that help to
shape lives
In order to facilitate effective connections across
the disciplines, faculty from each seminar visited the
other two seminars to teach materials relevant to the
disciplinary perspective developed in their own seminar:
| American Studies |
Physiology |
Sociology |
| Physiology visits to talk about
physiology and birth, especially how a woman's body
goes into labor (and when and why) |
American Studies
visits to talk about the history of death in America |
American Studies
visits to talk about ethical issues and death |
| Sociology visits
to talk about inequality in the United States and
longevity. |
Sociology visits to talk about
social factors that shape disease processes.
|
Physiology visits
to talk about answers to the question "what
is disease?" |
Students in all three courses were also "born"
as "alter egos." Students were responsible
for learning about the life histories, disease issues,
and socio-economic status of their alter egos (learn
more about the alter egos). The alter egos were
written collaboratively by the three faculty involved
to insure that each discipline had material of value
to the faculty member's individual course.
What Are The Goals Of The Symposium
As A "Capstone" Experience?
-
Include a brief writing assignment that helps students
organize their thoughts about the experience
-
Share components that foreground each of the disciplinary
perspectives
-
Provide ample time for discussion so that students
in each of the courses have an opportunity to hear
from one another
-
Provide opportunity for feedback from students
on the experience of the interdisciplinary part
of the courses
-
Allow students to be involved in a "death"
experience that draws upon all of the information
developed in the individual courses
-
Grant undergraduates a participatory, innovative
learning experience
How Did The Symposium Accomplish
These Goals?
Students began the evening by "checking in"
as their alter
egos. Each student received a nametag (pictured
below) with their alter ego's name and  sat
down in an assigned seat. Throughout the evening students
assumed the identity of their alter ego and, after writing
a response to opening questions from the faculty moderators,
each student shared "their" story with the
other students at the table. Students asked each other
questions and reflected on the different situations
and challenges facing each student's alter ego.
How Did Death Enter The Picture?
Unbeknownst to them, some of the students' alter egos
were about to "die." After spending time discussing
and getting to know each other's stories, the Grim Reaper
appeared and "selected" several students from
around the room. These students left the room and were
taken to a "liminal state" elsewhere in the
building.
The alter egos selected to "die" were, despite
appearances, carefully chosen ahead of time by the faculty.
They represented a range of situations, from terminal
disease cases to relatively minor ailments. Designed
to simulate the uncertainty of death, the placemat at
each student's assigned seat told the Grim Reaper which
alter egos the faculty had chosen for the liminal state
and which would stay in the main Symposium room. 
Our Grim Reaper "chooses"
a student. Note the red placemat that guided the Grim
Reaper. These allowed the professors to direct the Symposium
while maintaining the appearance of randomness and uncertaininty
for the students.
What Happened To The "Survivors?"
Those students still in the main Symposium
next opened up the sealed envelopes that had been
sitting at their table all evening. Once again, the
faculty carefully planned out the contents of each
student's envelope in order to stimulate discussion
and reflection.
Two students at each table learned that
their alter ego's disease had progressed further and
would require additional medical care or services.
Their envelopes contained details on how their medical
condition has changed, as well as a summary of what
would happen next.
The remaining students at the table
learned that they were now part of a Review Board.
As a member of this Review Board, they had control
of three health care units which they could distribute
to the two students whose condition had deteriorated.
Their job was now to interview the two students in
order to make an informed and careful choice as to
how many credits each alter ego should receive. Since
each Review Board had a total of nine health care
units, the Review Board was forced to make a conscious
decision between the two cases. Although they were
free to assign the units in any way they saw fit,
they could not split a unit into fractions, necessitating
a choice between the two patients.
Review Board members represented each
of the three classes participating in the Symposium.
They asked questions and listened to the two students
whose alter egos needed additional medical assistance.
The Review Boards then reviewed the two cases and,
at each table, came to a group consensus on how to
divide the health care units. The students took their
work very seriously, and every table used the maximum
available time to reach their decision.
To reinforce the difficulty of the decision,
and the importance of such agonizing choices in real
life, the Grim Reaper appeared again, this time selecting
the student at each table whose alter ego received
the smaller amount of health care units. These students
joined their colleagues in the liminal state elsewhere
in the building. The members of the Review Boards
then discussed, moderated by faculty, the choices
they had been faced with and the reasons for their
difficult decisions.
What Was This "Liminal State?"
The students who followed the Grim Reaper were taken
to a specially prepared room, whihch represented a "liminal
state": between life and death. In actuality it
was a lounge decorated to resemble a funeral parlor,
complete with casket, where the students could discuss
and examine the experience of the American way of death.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Timothy Marr, a
professor in UNC's American Studies program who taught
one of the courses involved in the Symposium.
Dr. Marr talked with the students about the various
ways Americans prepare for and handle death, both their
own and those of loved ones and friends. He asked the
students, in the role of their alter egos, how many
had informed their families of their wishes for funeral
arrangements, for burial or cremation, or organ donation
and other options and challenges facing surviving family
members.
When the second group of students arrived, the discussion
shifted to the situations facing their alter egos and
the causes for their lack of health care units. Students
examined the choices facing individuals, organizations,
and systems in America that deal with issues of both
health and, unfortunately, death, every day.
Note: Although designed as an interesting
and educational experience, we recognized the possibility
of a student's strong emotional response to these activities.
At all times a faculty or staff member was prepared to
discuss and comfort, in a safe environment, any student
who reacted strongly to the evening's events.
How Did The Students Respond To The Symposium?
At the end of the evening, the students left their
alter egos behind and returned to their original seats
as UNC first year students. They discussed the evening's
events with each other and the faculty moderators and
wrote some of their thoughts and comments. You can read
some of their comments here.
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