Last updated on: 7/16/2018 | Author: ProCon.org

Caitlin Mahar, PhD Biography

Title:
Adjunct Research Fellow at the Swinburne University of Technology
Position:
Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?"
Reasoning:

“I find it depressing when any public discussion about improving the experience of dying is reduced to a debate about euthanasia in the opinion pages.

In the scientific community there’s a consensus our experience of pain and suffering isn’t simply biological. It’s related to our ideas about it – cultural beliefs, family involvement, fear and depression around dying — as well as the impact of socio-economic factors.

There are so many interesting and innovative approaches to dying. I think there are more productive ways to talk about how we can help.”

“‘It’s Quite a Recent Thing to Believe Having a Doctor at Our Deathbed Administering Lots of Drugs Is a ‘Good Death’,” thecitizen.org.au, May 1, 2017
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
    Experts
Individuals with MDs, JDs, PhDs, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to end-of-life issues. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to end-of-life.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Adjunct Research Fellow, Faculty of Health, Arts, and Design, Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia), 2017-present
  • Research Assistant, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne (Australia), 2012-2016
  • Lecturer, Literature Department, Trinity College Foundation Studies, University of Melbourne, 1996-2008
  • Research Assistant, Cultural Heritage Unity, School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne, 2005-2006
Education:
  • PhD, History, University of Melbourne, 2016
  • Melbourne Teaching Certificate for Graduate Researchers, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, 2015
  • MA, Public/Applied History, Monash University, 2011
  • BA, honors, History and English, University of Melbourne, 1994
Other:
  • None found
Quoted in:
  1. What Is a Good Death?