Thinking critically in a critical time
William G. Hoy Baylor University On the final exam for my "End-of-Life and Bereavement for Health Care" course, I pose a provocative question to my students. Throughout the semester, I try encouraging students to "consider the alternatives" to my opinions and the evidence I present or the theories and clinical interventions they read in their various texts. I ask them in class discussions, "In what ways are we not considering all of the options on this question?" and "What if there were another way to think about this?" So the question I ask on the final exam? Here it is: "Dr. Hoy is certainly not short on opinions! Whether in his perspective on the role of media in reporting about death, loss, and grief, or the value of funerals and memorialization, or how bereavement does and does not work, you have examined evidence and heard from 'leading figures' in the field (through books and journal articles). But just because it is said b...