Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF) Story: Jenna Yeam

Author: Jenna Yeam

What challenges did you encounter during your research and how did you work through these difficulties?

A challenge that arose stems from non-Death Doulas signing up for interviews and asking for compensation. My interview sample is US Death Doulas, I suspect people just trying to receive the compensation were filling out the recruitment and interview form, and so in response, I informed my advisor. Together, we came to the conclusion that I should continue with the interviews, take note of my suspicions in my field notes, and continue with compensating them. There were not too many of these suspicions. Another challenge was maintaining deep listening and active listening engagement while interviewing towards the end of my interview series. In response, I took a break from interviewing for two weeks and then resumed. The restorative break was effective at revitalizing my engagement, and I learned that this is an important element to incorporate in ethnographic research.

What sparked your interest in this field?  

I became interested in this field while working at a war hostel in bosnia & hercegovina. I talked to many backpackers, in transitory life phases, about their good lives. Memories and reminders of death and loss are embedded in the collective conscious of the town, and so, I suspected that something about talking and thinking about death and dying helps people realize what their good life looks like. From my research, I learned that a fundamental challenge to die well is a lack of conversation, education, and awareness around death and dying. It creates challenges for the dying person and their loved ones when trying to make end-of-life decisions and also post-death care. From my research, I began to wonder how death education can be prompted on the community level. What mediums should we as a society create or reform to spur community-level education around death and dying and address the problems stemming from our death-phobic culture?

Curious about DSRF?

This project was made possible through the Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF)—a unique opportunity for rising juniors and seniors in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences to pursue funded summer research full-time!