Death Cafe at St. John Fisher University
A write up of Death Cafe at St. John Fisher University
By lmaccammon
Death Cafés are non-profit community events that provide people with a safe, respectful, and comfortable place to talk about death and dying over coffee, tea, and delicious cake. There are no scripts, no themes, and no agendas. The objective is “to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.”
Based on the work of Swiss Sociologist, Bernard Crettaz, the first Death Café was started in the UK in 2010 by Jon Underwood and Sue Barsky Reid. In 2012, hospice social worker, Lizzy Miles, was the first person to offer a Death Café in the US. Since then, the “Death Café” movement has spread around the world, with hundreds of cafés held each year (https://deathcafe.com/).
The organizers for “Death and Dying in America” have scheduled three Death Cafés this semester:
· Tuesday, September 19th, Free Period, Campus Ministry
· Wednesday, October 18th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm, Chapel Narthex (chapel entrance space)
· Thursday, November 9th, Free Period, Campus Ministry
Coffee, tea, and cake are provided, but please feel free to bring your own preferred non-alcoholic beverage. No RSVP required. We look forward to gathering together and having a great conversation!
Sponsored by the Interfaith Council at St. John Fisher University, the Religious Studies and Philosophy Departments, the Ethics Minor Program, the Wegman School of Nursing, and Campus Ministry