Columbia University Seminar on Death

Past Seminar Meetings

ACADEMIC SESSIONS

2007 – 2008
2006 – 2007 (in preparation)
2005 – 2006 (in preparation)
2004 – 2005 (in preparation)
2003 – 2004 (in preparation)
2002 – 2003 (in preparation)
2001 – 2002
2000 – 2001
1999 – 2000
1998 – 1999
1997 – 1998
1996 – 1997
1995 – 1996
1994 – 1995
1993 – 1994
1992 – 1993
1991 – 1992
1990 – 1991

2007 – 2008

Speaker and Title TBA

May 14, 2008

The Joy of Funerals

April 11, 2008
Alix Strauss
Author: The Joy of Funerals

Austin H. Kutscher Memorial Conference
"The Pulse of Death Now"

March 29, 2008

Open Discussion

Mar 12, 2008

"Futility, Knowledge, and the Social Orchestration of Death in Botswana's Oncology Ward"

Feb 13, 2008
Julie Livingston, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of History
Rutgers University

"Dying for One's Country: The Soldier and Sacrificial Death"

Dec 13, 2007
Richard A. Koenigsberg, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for the Study of War, Genocide and Terrorism

Open Discussion

Nov 14, 2007

Open Discussion

Oct 10, 2007

2001 – 2002

May 01, 2002: Working Session VII – Death Seminar Publication Project
Apr 03, 2002: Working Session VI – Death Seminar Publication Project
Mar 06, 2002: Working Session V – Death Seminar Publication Project
Feb 06, 2002: Working Session IV – Death Seminar Publication Project
Dec 05, 2001: Working Session III – Death Seminar Publication Project
Nov 07, 2001: Working Session II – Death Seminar Publication Project
Oct 03, 2001 Working Session I – Death Seminar Publication Project

2000 – 2001

"The Image of Death in Contemporary News Media: Time Magazine in the Year 2000"

May 09, 2001
Christina Staudt, Ph.D.
Independent Art Historian

"Humor and Death: The Reality, the Death Anxiety, and the Death Wish"

April 11, 2001
Joseph Richman, Ph.D.
Psychologist in Private Practice, and
Professor Emeritus
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

"A Guided Tour to End of Life Care"

Mar 14, 2001
Robert C. Cassidy, Ph.D.
Director of Bioethics and Social Policy
Schneider Children's Hospital / LIJMC
New Hyde Park, New York

"Controversies and Trends in End of Life Medical Ethics"

Feb 14, 2001
Kenneth M. Prager, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Chairman, Medical Ethics Committee and
Director of Clinical Ethics
Columbia Division of New York - Presbyterian Medical Center

"Death in the Christian Theology of Hope"

Dec 13, 2000
Daniel Sulmasy, M.D., PH.D.
Sisters of Charity Chair in Ethics
St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center
Professor of Medicine and
Director of the Bioethics Institute
New York Medical College

"Incentives for Permitting Death: Protecting Vulnerable Patients"

Nov 08, 2000
Nancy Neveloff Dubler, L.L.B.
Director, Division of Bioethics
Montefiore Medical Center, and
Professor of Bioethics
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

"Conflicts in Caring at the End of Life: Nurses Perspectives"

Oct 11, 2000
Judith Kennedy Schwarz, R.N., M.S.
Lehman College
(Ph.D. candidate, New York University)

1999 – 2000

"Healing Children's Grief"

May 10, 2000
Grace Hyslop Christ, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Columbia University School of Social Work

"Hyperspace and the Quest for Transcendence"

Apr 5, 2000
Clifford A. Pickover, Ph.D.
Research Staff Member, IBM
Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Yorktown Heights, New York

"Death and Life after Plane Crashes"

Mar 8, 2000
Paul Ofman, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
New York University School of Medicine
Management Consultant, RHR International
Chair of Disaster Mental Health for The American Red Cross in Greater New York City

"Differentiating Grief and Depression: A Clinical Distinction"

Feb 9, 2000
Kenneth R. Cohen, M.D.
Psychiatrist in Private Practice
New York City

"Health Care Decision Making for Gravely Ill Children"

Dec 8, 1999
Alan R. Fleischman, M.D.
Senior Vice President
The New York Academy of Medicine
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

"Ancient Egyptian Mummification: A Physical and Ritualistic Approach to Life after Death"

Nov 10, 1999
Bob Brier, Ph.D.
Chairman and Professor of Philosophy
C. W. Post Campus
Long Island University

"Zetetics: A Personal Spin on Life and Death"

Oct 13, 1999
Michael K. Bartalos, M.D.
Chair, University Seminar on Death
Columbia University

1998 – 1999

"'The Mechanical Graveyard': Death in the ICU"

May 12, 1999"
Martin Doerfler, M.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and
Director of Critical Care Medicine
Department of Medicine
New York University School of Medicine and
Chairperson of the Biomedical Ethics Committee
Bellevue Hospital Center

"The Joy of Funerals"

April 14, 1999
Ms. Alix Strauss
Journalist, Producer, Writer, Educator
New York City

"The Spectacle of Death: Sati in Early Colonial India, 1818-1827"

March 10, 1999
Anne B. Waters, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures
Barnard College

"Suicide Prevention on the Front Lines: A Practitioner's Perspective"

February 10, 1999
Thomas A. Caffrey, Ph.D., Psychologist
Director of "Suicide Consultation"
New York City

"Aspects of the Rebirth Theory in Indian Tradition"

December 09, 1998
Professor Alex Wayman
Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit
Columbia University

"The Definition of Death"

November 11, 1998
Kevin T. Keith, M.A.
Bioethicist, Independent Scholar
New York City

"The Beth Israel Bereavement Program: Helping Families To Cope With Perinatal Loss"

October 14, 1998
Karen Goodman, R.N.C., M.A.
Certified Bereavement Counselor
Coordinator of Perinatal Bereavement Program
Beth Israel Medical Center
New York City

1997 – 1998

"New Advances in the Treatment of HIV Infection - 1998"

May 13, 1998
R. Gabriel Torres, M.D.
Director, AIDS Center
St.Vincent Hospital and Medical Center, and
Bentley-Salick Medical Practice, P.C.
New York City

"Beyond the Grave: Cultures of Queens Cemeteries"

Apr 08, 1998
Ilana Harlow, Ph.D.
Folk Arts Program Director
Queens Council on the Arts

"Perils to Existence - Impressions from a Visit to Asia: Environmental Destruction and AIDS"

Mar 11, 1998
Jerry Thomas Nessel, M.D.,
HIV Health Coordinator
Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation
New York City

"Physician Assisted Suicide in the United States - A National Prevalence Study"

Feb 11, 1998
Diane E. Meier, M.D.
Associate Professor
Departments of Geriatrics and Medicine
Mount Sinai School Medicine and
Director, Mount Sinai Palliative Care Initiative

"Pragmatic Reflections on Death and Dying in the Hospital"

Dec 10, 1997
Joseph Fins, M.D.
Director of Medical Ethics
New York Hospital / Cornell Medical Center

"The Terminally Ill: Personal Experiences in Counseling Patients and Their Families"

Nov 12, 1997
Marcia Fishman, M.A., R.N.C.
Grief Counselor in Private Practice
New York City

"Death in America. An Archival Documentary and Chronological History of Illness and Death" (A Video Production)

Oct 08, 1997
Viewing and discussion led by its writer and producer
Stanley B. Burns, M.D.
Director, The Burns Archive
New York City

1996 – 1997

"Navajo Bereavement and Healing"

May 14, 1997
Thomas J. Csordas, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar
Russel Sage Foundation, New York City and
Professor of Anthropology
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio

"The Concept of Death Among the Indians of the Northwest Coast"

Apr. 09, 1997
Allen Wardwell,
Independent Curator
New York City

"Picturing Death: Images and Issues from the French 19th Century Illustrated Press."

Mar. 12, 1997
Christina Staudt
Independent Art Historian
Bronxville, New York

"Infanticide in America: Witch Hunt or Scientific Inquiry?"

Feb. 12, 1997
Margaret G. Spinelli, M.D.,
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and
Director, Maternal Mental Health Program
New York State Psychiatric Institute

"Flesh, Nails, and Bone: Death and Ancestal Memory in a Madagascar Kingdom"

Dec. 11, 1996
Professor Lesley A. Sharp
Department of Anthropology
Barnard College, Columbia University

"The Transsexual Experience - Metaphor for Death and Rebirth"

Nov. 13, 1996
Lieut. Janet Aiello
Police Department
Hoboken, New Jersey

with discussants

Ms. Lisa Cross
Jiovanna Towers

"Assisted Suicide at the Crossroads: The Constitutional and Social Debate"

Oct. 09, 1996
Tracy E. Miller, J.D.
Visiting Scholar, Department of Health Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Executive Director of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law

1995 – 1996

"Autonomous Dying: Critical Reflections on the Legalization of Physician Assisted Suicide"

May 8, 1996
Mr. Bruce Jennings
Executive Director
The Hastings Center
Briarcliff Manor, New York

"The War on Aids and the Betrayal of Public Health"

Apr 24, 1996
Ms. Helen Mathews Smith
Science Writer, former editor of MD Magazine
New York City

"Dying at Home: Implications for Parents, Family and Significant Others"

Mar 13, 1996
Sherry Schachter, R.N., B.S.N., M.A.
Certified Grief Counselor
Coordinator, Psychiatric Home Care Program
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

"Religious Cults: Salvation, Suicide and Apocalyptic Endings"

Feb 14, 1996
Professor Gillian Lindt
Professor of Religion
Dean, School of General Studies
Columbia University

"The Doctor as Writer"

Dec13, 1995
Richard Selzer, M.D.
Surgeon and Writer
Professor Emeritus of Surgery
Yale University School of Medicine

"Receiving an Organ: Gift or Purchase?"

Nov 8, 1995
Mr. Leo Trevino
Assistant Director of Family Counseling and Consent Services

and

Mr. Laurence Swasey
Educator and heart transplant recipient
New York Regional Transplant Program, Inc.
New York City

"The Cemetery as Cultural Resource - Virtual Walk Through Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery"

Oct 11, 1995
Mr. John Cashman, Guide and Historian
Green-Wood Cemetery, Sunset Park
Brooklyn, New York

1994 – 1995

"Prevention of Patient Suicide - Medical/Legal Considerations"

May 10, 1995
Robert Walzer, M.D., J.D.
Reiss, Walzer, Vasta & Starks, P.C.
New Canaan, CT

"Preventing Death in the Workplace: Law and Compliance"

Apr 12, 1995
Ilise L. Feitshans, Esq.
Acting Director
Legislative Drafting Research Fund
Columbia University
School of Law

"Comparative Approaches to Rationing Health Care Resources: The U.S., Britain and Canada"

Mar 08, 1995
Mary Ruggie, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology
Columbia University

"'Off the Count': Death Behind Bars"

Feb 08, 1995
Mr. Stephen Donaldson
President
Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc.
New York City

"Macro- and Micro-Suicidal Events in the Lives of Adolescents in Detention"

Dec 14, 1994
Mr. David Snyder
Associate Psychologist
Spofford Juvenile Detention Center
New York City Department of Juvenile Justice

"'To Be Or Not To Be' - When Society Has the Answer"

Nov 09, 1994
Michael K. Bartalos, M.D.
Division of Medical Genetics
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center

"Living and Dying with Aids - A Psychological Perspective"

Oct 12, 1994
Judith Rabkin, Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
New York State Psychiatric Institute

1993 – 1994

"The Victim as Perpetrator: Dissociation and Violent Behavior"

May 11, 1994
Stuart B. Kleinman, M.D.
Medical Director of the Criminal Victims Center
Attending Psychiatrist of the Forensic Psychiatry Clinic of the
Manhattan Criminal and Supreme Courts
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

"Adolescents and HIV Infection - The Second Decade"

Apr 13, 1994
Donna Futterman, M.D.
Acting Director
Adolescent AIDS Program
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, New York

"Charting Death: Progress Toward the End"

Mar 09, 1994
Rita Charon, M.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Department of Medicine
Columbia University
College of Physicians & Surgeons

Feb 09, 1994: MEETING CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER

"Genetic Approaches to Developmental and Abnormal Cell Death"

Dec 08, 1993
Martin Chalfie, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Sherman Fairchild Center for the Life Sciences
Columbia University

"Cognitive - Behavioral Perspective on Bereavement and Bereavement Counseling"

Nov 10, 1993"
Rochelle Balter, Ph.D.
Institute for Rational - Emotive Therapy
New York City

"Aspects of a 'Good Death'"

Oct 13, 1993
Mr. T. Patrick Hill
Director of Education
Choice in Dying
New York City

1992 – 1993

"Separation and Loss: The Preparatory and Recovery Processes in Working with the Developmentally Disabled Population"

May 12, 1993
Vera Halpenny, C.S.W.
Director, Residential Services,
Young Adult Institute, and
Adjunct Professor
Iona College
New Rochelle, New York

"Death in the Works of Michel Foucault"

Apr 14, 1993
James Miller, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
The New School for Social Research
New York City

"From the Nazi Death Camps in Poland (1992) to Guatemala (1993): Being a Witness"

Mar 10, 1993
Jerry T. Nessel, M.D.
Health / HIV Coordinator
Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation, and
Adjunct Professor in Health Care Management
Mercy College

"Death in Different Cultures: Past and Present"

Feb 10, 1993
Michael Bartalos, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University

"Song for the Duke: Memory as a Healing Tool and as a Celebration of Life"

Dec 09, 1992
Barbara Meyers, R.N.
A.D.E.C. Certified Grief Therapist in Private Practice
Staten Island, New York

"Anthropological Findings in Relation to the Youth Suicide Epidemic"

Nov 11, 1992
Ernest Shulman, Ph.D.
City University of New York

"Life, Death, and Contextual Individualism"

Oct 14, 1992
Michael Bartalos, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University

1991 – 1992

"Mourning and After-Care"

May 13, 1992
Rabbi Jacob Goldberg
Adjunct Assistant Professor for Bereavement Counseling
School of Social Work
Yeshiva University
New York City

"Death in America"

Apr 08, 1992
Stanley Burns, M.D.
Creator and Director of the Burns Archives
New York City

"Death in the Literature of Spain"

Mar 11, 1992
Hon. Jose M. Chaves
University Professor, Poet, Journalist
Ambassador to the United Nations

and

"Death of an Empire"

Hon. Djoumakadyr Atabekov
Ambassador to the United Nations
Democratic Republik of Kyrghyzstan

"Do Not Resuscitate - Issues and Resolution"

Feb 12, 1992
Karol Murov, B.S.N., M.A.
Director of Risk Management
St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center
New York City

"Timing of Death Around Religious Holidays"

Dec 11, 1991
Ellen L. Idler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
Rutgers University

"Two Decades of Death Education/Suicide Prevention in Schools: What Has Been Accomplished? What Still Remains To Be Done?"

Nov 13, 1991
Robert G. Stevenson, Ed.D.
Educator, River Dell Regional Schools
Oradell, New Jersey

"Bereavement Damage Control: Now and Later"

Oct 09, 1991
Daniel Schaefer
Funeral Home Director, Author
Brooklyn, New York

1990 – 1991

"The Holocaust in Education"

May 08, 1991
Mr. Gerome Ranieri
Member, the Governor's Committee on the Holocaust (in New Jersey)
Chairman, Social Studies Department
River Dell Regional Schools
Oradell, New Jersey

"The View of Death and Life in the Art of Meso-America"

Apr 10, 1991
Esther Pasztory, Ph.D.
Professor of Art and Archeology
Columbia University

"The Patient Self-Determination Act"

Mar 13, 1991
Mr. Patrick Hill
Director of Education
Society for the Right to Die
New York City

"An Interdisciplinary Conceptual Framework and Taxonomy of Thanatological Perspectives"

Feb 13, 1991
O. Roger Anderson, Ph.D.
Professor of Natural Sciences
Columbia University

"Spirituality and Health"

Dec 12, 1990
Meeta Goswani, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Director, Narcolepsy Project
Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center

"The Issue of AIDS: The Infected and Affected"

Nov 14, 1990
Mr. Harold Klinsky
Educational Consultant
New Jersey Bodies
Mahwah, New Jersey

"Death Before Birth"

Oct 10, 1990
Dorothy Warburton, Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in Human Genetics and Development
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

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