Death education,communication,and happiness: An unlikely general education triad?

Abstract

Topics in death and dying education classes can be troubling for students, some of whom may have enrolled in such classes in order to seek help. This paper contains recommendations regarding happiness-related exercises that could be employed when teaching death and dying classes from a communications perspective in general education programs. At first, the combining of death-related topics with happiness-related material may seem odd. But such an approach is not without precedent as is seen in life and death educational efforts in Taiwan. Happiness-related exercises involving savoring, gratitude, kindness, social relationships, and creating meaning have the potential to ease student anxiety when exploring difficult topics, and perhaps improve overall student wellbeing.

Although this paper chiefly concerns death and dying education in the United States, its principles extend to many countries around the world grappling with aging populations.