In Susan Bluck’s office in McCarty Hall, a quote hangs on the wall: “An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely.”
Bluck, an associate professor in UF’s psychology department, has been teaching a class on death and dying for almost a decade -- a course many students might not know exists. The subject has been an interest of Bluck’s for quite some time although, outside her office, it has been generally ignored.
“People study child development and teenagers developing, and we just think, ‘Oh that’s completely normal right? Of course that’s not a weird course,’” she said. “(Death) is something that happens to absolutely everybody, and it’s something that we hardly ever talk about.”
Bluck’s course is not alone in its novelty. At UF, a university of about 50,000 students, a wide range of subjects and disciplines are readily covered, including feminism, coffee culture, food and religion, white-collar crime and even samurai war tales.
For Marit van Gelderen, a student in Bluck’s class, getting a chance to tap into different parts of academia is vital. Originally from the Netherlands, van Gelderen, 21, is taking classes in Gainesville during the Fall before traveling back home to pursue a master’s degree in clinical neuropsychology.
She said learning more about death will help her in the future when she needs to care for elderly patients or those suffering from terminal illnesses.
Ann Whitney Sanford, an associate professor in UF’s department of religion, said many courses are developed based on student interest.
“If you look at each faculty member, especially in the humanities, most of us have pretty diverse areas,” Sanford said.
One of the courses Sanford teaches, Religion and Food, delves into the ritual of eating and the social and cultural implications that go along with it.
“There’s a lot of ways that food lets us look into religion, history and just a lot of human behavior,” she said. “And we all like to eat.”
Pete Westmoreland, a lecturer in UF’s philosophy department, said the feminism course he co-teaches with a colleague includes students from all across campus.
“This class has a very broad range of students with lots of different kinds of interests,” he said, “which makes it a lot of fun to teach and a challenge.”
Lok Wong, a UF masters student in architecture, is currently enrolled in the Coffee Culture, Production and Markets course. Wong, 28, said he believes students should be aware of all the opportunities the university presents.
“Playing it safe is anti-college,” Wong wrote in an email.
