Ep. 482 Talking About Death on College Campuses with Jenna Yeam

End-of-Life University

Learn how a college student investigating death and dying is starting student-run Death Cafés on her campus.

My guest Jenna Yeam is a senior at Duke University who is investigating what it means to die well anyhow we can help people die better. As part of her thesis she interviewed 67 death doulas to learn about the major issues that interfere with experiencing a “good death” and will publish her results in the future. She is now organizing student-run Death Cafés, called Dying with Duke, to encourage young people to have open conversations about death and dying. Learn more on this Instagram account:

Dying with Duke

YouTube Channel

Listen here:

This episode includes:

• How Jenna became interested in doing research on death and dying
• What her thesis program on death doulas consists of
• What she has learned from interviewing death doulas
• How she was inspired to create a Death Café for students on her college campus
• The student response to the Dying with Duke event she hosted
• How she promoted it by word of mouth, physical marketing, and social media
• The format of the Duke event and questions used to prompt discussion
• What she learned from the first event and plans for the future
• Tips for those who want to start a student Death Café or similar event on their campus
• The ripple effect of encouraging young people to talk about death

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Death Café website: https://deathcafe.com
• Connect with Jenna on Linked In: linkedin.com/in/jenna-yeam
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