A Conversation with Alua Arthur
Event Details
The Department of Human Development and Family Studies invites you to A Conversation with Alua Arthur on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
In her memoir, "Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End," Arthur shares her experiences as a death doula supporting end-of-life care, from the business matters, medical directives, and memorial planning, to honoring the quiet moments of contemplation when her clients want to talk and remember. Arthur is no stranger to bearing witness to death, her family having fled a murderous coup d'état in Ghana and navigating the loss of her dear friend and brother-in-law.
Join Arthur, Molly Countermine, HDFS teaching professor, and friends of the department as they discuss Arthur's experiences as a death doula and her transformative message that by thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—you can breath wild, new potential into your life.
Attendees will be invited to submit questions via the Q&A function during the event. Closed captioning will be available.
*Only the first 500 attendees to login in will be granted access to the webinar.
About the Discussants
Alua Arthur
Alua Arthur is the New York Times bestselling author of "Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End" and the most visible death doula in America today. She is a recovering attorney and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. She also hosted the TED Talk "Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life." Arthur is a frequent guest on TV and radio, having been featured on CBS's The Doctors and in Disney's Limitless docu-series with Chris Hemsworth, as well as other national media outlets such as Vogue, InStyle, the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, New York Times, Marie Claire, CNN, and Refinery29. She travels the country and the world as a keynote speaker at conferences, universities, seminaries, and senior citizens' communities. Arthur and the team at Going Grace have trained over 2500 death doulas in 17 countries, growing the movement of circles of care. She is perpetually on the hunt for donuts.
Molly Countermine
Molly Countermine, teaching professor of human development and family studies, teaches HDFS 254N Reading Our Lives: Understanding Diversity and Human Development through Memoirs, which uses personal narratives, including “Briefly Perfectly Human,” to explore the diversity of the human experience. Countermine's unique teaching style combines storytelling, humor, and conversation to create lively and engaged classes. In 2023 she won the Joyce Hopson King Diversity Achievement Award for fostering diversity and inclusion in the College of Health and Human Development.
Natalie Hernandez
Natalie Hernandez, senior director of Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)Hernandez supports a variety of services available to Penn State undergraduates and graduates, including wellness and self-help options; group, individual, and couples counseling; crisis intervention, psychiatric services, and community education and outreach. Her particular specialties are groups and systems counseling and training.
Kaléi Kowalchik
Kaléi Kowalchik, postdoctoral candidate in the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, has worked concurrently as a registered nurse in community and inpatient hospice settings providing high-quality care to patients and their families at the end of life. Her research interest is to improve end-of-life care education for nursing students, healthcare providers, and community members to ultimately improve the quality and accessibility of end-of-life care to patients and their families.
