Students Visit Cemetery for Class on Death

Class was in session today at ULM, but the normal classroom filled with desks and a black board was replaced by graves and tombstones. A ULM professor took a new twist on the idea of taking the classroom outdoors and took his class to a cemetery. The ULM professor is teaching a truly unique class about death and dying. ULM is the only university in our area to offer this type of class and one of only about 50 universities around the country. Its an interesting way of bringing the dead to life. From a distance a crowd gathered around a grave at the Old City Cemetery of Monroe Wednesday may have looked like theyre mourning the death of a friend or relative. But it was actually a class of college students who brought their youth and excitement to the cemetery to learn about the departed resting below. Dr. Chris Johnson teaches a course on death and dying at ULM. He says we live in a death denying society. His class explores social beliefs about dying, caring for dying patients and religious beliefs about death and the afterlife. “We have people that have been through some terrible experiences, murders, suicides and various other types of things.” Johnson says, “Its very helpful for people going into counseling and other helping professions to know how to be helpful to these people." As the students walked among the dead occupants of the cemetery, they learned about the different symbols and art on each tombstone. Like a draped urn, which is known as a symbol of mourning. Jessica Byrd is a senior at ULM majoring in social work and sociology. She says the class has taught her how to deal with the guilt and grief of losing her mother when she was a senior in high school. “It has taught me that grief is world wide and its shared among everyone.” She said, “Everybody grieves different and every loss is different." Byrd believes everyone is joined by one common thread, death. So she says any college, no matter theyre major, should take a class on death and dying. "Everybody, no matter what profession youre dealing with, experiences death at some point in time, so I think it should be required," she said. The day was also a history lesson for the students because a lot of the history of Monroe is buried right there in that cemetery, including past mayors, lawyers and city socialites. (Copyright 2008, NBC 10/ Fox 14 News, Written by Casey Ferrand)