Teaching death studies: reflections from the classroom

Researching individuals’ experiences of death and funerals is a sensitive issue, and it is also the case that teaching death studies can be sensitive. This paper draws on experience gained during teaching on a module concerned with rituals of death to explore the issue of sensitivity in the classroom. Emotional expression is not encouraged in the classroom situation; techniques are suggested to reduce the likelihood of students being emotionally overcome. Given that it is not always possible to prevent this happening, ways of handling this situation are also addressed.