Death and dying discussed by book group in DRC

For spring term, Mt. Hood’s book group is focusing on traditions of death and dying. The Layers of Learning book group is currently reading “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi, which is about Kalanithi’s coping with lung cancer.

While a book is always involved in the group, it is only a catalyst for wider discussion, according to Melinda Bullen, MHCC Diversity Resource Center Coordinator.

In his book, Kalanithi writes about finishing his residence as a neurosurgeon and how he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Each term, Layers of Learning meets for five weeks, from noon to 1 p.m. every Monday in the DRC, inside the Student Union.

“The book is just the start of the conversation. We often have different activities, different films, whatever it might be, to continue the conversation beyond the book,” Bullen said.

The group previously covered topics such as LGBTQ community issues (specifically transgender issues) and “The Residue Years” by Mitchell S. Jackson, “which was sort of homegrown, but definitely talked about socioeconomic and race issues,” said Bullen.

To discuss the cultural aspect of funerals, embalming, and cremation, the group visited Mt. Hood’s Funeral Services Education program. Bullen plans to have a couple of funeral directors present to speak about their perspectives and career experience. One works in North Portland with the African American community and the other works in the city of Sandy, with a predominately white, rural service area.

Bullen plans to take the group to an off-campus trip to visit River View Cemetery, a historical burial and funeral services site in Southwest Portland.

Faculty and staff who attend the Layers events, eating lunch as they meet, have embraced the tough topic, Bullen said.

“This is a really nice intellectual and community break for them, where they can connect with each other. I was worried that people wouldn’t want to take this course, because people don’t want to think about death,” she said.

At their first meeting, the group found it shocking that even though death is something that everyone in the world is connected to, people don’t want to discuss it. Some will avoid the topic and others may come together with empathic gestures. The weekly meetings  allow attendees to discuss how they feel about their own personal experiences. “I think, in some ways, they’re seeing it as cathartic, an opportunity to sort of come and dive into this subject that most people avoid,” said Bullen.

Some members of the group have remained with the Layers of Learning since it was first started almost two years ago. Regulars have joked about the group forcing their hand in reading because “we all get so busy and they’re not reading enough on their free time,” Bullen said. “We all have multiple layers of our identity that we don’t see from the outside.”

Addressing a sensitive topic can create an uneasy atmosphere, but when someone near to an individual dies, people close to them are typically empathetic, want to help and want to share their condolences and sorrow. Yet, “people are afraid to bring it up, because they don’t want to upset the person,” Bullen said.

“I couldn’t be open about the loss and pain because nobody was talking to me about it. I felt like I had to hold it all to myself,” Bullen said about her own experience.

In contrast, when it comes to death, this particular group came together to talk about how death “inevitably allows us to be more connected to the moments we’re sharing now,” she said.

Layers of Learning welcomes all students, staff and faculty at MHCC. There are just two meetings left for the group, but Bullen says anyone interested is still free to join.