Hi Colleagues,
I graduated with a Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University on December 17, 2010. My thesis studied intermedia of a blog, photographs, + poems to explore impressions of fear of death in end-of-life caregiving contexts (Proquest).
Abstract
This study explores fear of death in end-of-life caregiving contexts via impressionistic
autoethnographic narrative as performed on a blog with photographs and poems. This study
relies on ethical assumptions for communicating dialogue, confirmation, and a performance
narrative ethos in end of life. This study employs Terror Management Theory to identify a gap
in existing empirical fear and death studies, and fills that gap by embedding its framework and
method in the psychotherapeutic tradition to foster creative freedom and psychological safety
and so break the cultural silence shrouding grief. Key findings show that the blog coordinated a
therapeutic process to assuage death fears, but that other virtues besides fear performed in the
text. These outcomes benefit narrative healthcare. Implications include leading for affective and
spiritual healing and communicating compassion, creativity, and love. Recommendations for
future research involve partnering with technology organizations, the arts, and social sciences to
design communication systems to benefit people in healthcare organizations.
Keywords: fear studies, death studies, Terror Management Theory, performance,
narrative, narrative healthcare, holistic leadership, dialogue, confirmation, impressionistic
autoethnography, techno-cultural studies, cyber studies, photography, writing, blog
Access
Thesis available via ProQuest, Gonzaga Repository, and Scribd. Please cite source accordingly.
Thank you for reading!
And, Go Zags!
Kindly,
Dena, MA-ComL