Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > January > 29 > Entry
What do you think about the “bodies” exhibit?
In today’s paper we have a story about how the local Catholic archdiocese is discouraging parents from allowing their children to see an exhibit at a Cincinnati museum that displays dissected human bodies.
The show’s promoters say they are unclaimed bodies from a China morgue and that they are displayed respectfully. The museum is promoting the exhibit as a rare opportunity to get a first-hand look at how the complicated human body works.
But the church is concerned that these bodies should have been laid to rest out of respect for the dead.
I see boths points of view here. I have a daughter who is extremely interested in science and medicine. When I read about this show, I thought it did sound like a great opportunity for a kid like her to have a unique learning experience (although my own daughter is still probalby a little too young for the exhibit).
On the other hand, I see the archbishop’s point. I am not offended by the concept of the exhibit (although I am Catholic), but it did make me wonder if I would want my own body or that of a close relative traveling the world on display in this way. Just because the bodies were unclaimed does not mean the deaceased do not deserve the same consideration as those that are claimed.
Medical schools, of course, use cadavers so that their students can learn about the body. Commonly, though, those bodies were explicitly donated for study by the decased in their wills before they died. If the people whose bodies are in the museum exhibit had expressed a wish to be part of the display, I don’t think I’d have any problem with it.
Still, the exhibit is a rare learning opportunity for young students.
I’d like to hear what you think. If you had a child who was, say, in high school and interested in going into medicine, would you encourage or discourage them from going to see this exhibit?
(Image credit: humanillnesses.com
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By reedonly
February 2, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this
It’s only an ethical question if you accept burial or cremation without explicit “permission” as normal. Choice: your body can be drained of fluids, pumped full of anti-decay chemicals, painted up with makeup and dropped into a hole in the ground to slowly rot; or you can be all of the above except incinerated into ashes instead of buried; or you can be preserved, illuminated and sent around to museums to make people smarter? What would you do?By DavidSS2
January 30, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this
While reading articles about the exhibit in Columbus’ Easton Center, I noticed they also seemed to make a big deal about the source of the bodies. I found it read as if the journalists were working hard to make a conflict to write about the exhibit, rather than reporting on actual exhibit. Perhaps they weren’t capable of talking about such a scientifically significant exhibit and weren’t capable of synthesizing the education significance of the exhibit, but I think it’s much ado about nothing.By Skeptic
January 29, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this
I just saw the BODIES exhibit in Columbus and found it to be facinating and educational. I agree that it is ethically questionable to use the dead without explicit permission, but perhaps it is more acceptable in Chinese culture? Despite the ethical questions, I highly recommend the exhibit. I saw many children and adults of all ages who clearly wanted to know more about anatomy. This exhibition displays the human form in a very unique, educational, and respectful way…… PS. I know people who work for an organ and tissue donation agency. They take their jobs VERY seriously and they are very respectful of the deceased and their families, despite having one of the most difficult jobs imaginable.By Dave
January 29, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this
From all I’ve read about the exhibit, I believe it is less “education” and more “side show”.By Mary
January 29, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
I share some of the same concerns of the archbishop, and I am not Catholic. We even screw up dying and respect for the dead. Some crematory (spelling?) in north Georgia, a few years ago, was found to have left bodies in the woods, instead of cremating them. Also, some funeral homes in New York were found to have sold some body parts without the relatives knowledge and consent. I have been with a close relative who died and I thought suffered more than he should have. The archbishop and I would probably disagree on euthanasia. Can’t we do anything right? I think the medical profession is negligent on health and death.