Teaching Through Grief: An Autoethnography and Recommendations

Abstract

Grief comes for all of us, but faculty often keep it close. Many of us suffer in silence. This article uses autoethnography and literature review to explore the full experience of faculty grief on an academic career. Using an autoethnography of my mother’s death by suicide, I explore the impacts of grief and trauma on relationships with colleagues and students, limits of institutional support, and the isolation of grief. In response, the article discusses faculty bereavement support at the individual, team, and institutional levels. Individual actions include therapy and meaning making in one’s research, teaching, and service. Team support includes peer engagement and managerial support. Finally, I consider how to cultivate a praxis of care in neoliberal institutions of higher education that are themselves under increased societal pressures.