Austin Lee Campbell thinks a lot about dying.<\/span><\/p>\n No, Campbell doesn\u2019t plan to shuffle off his mortal coil any time soon. A hospital chaplain, Campbell is on emergency call to comfort grieving families and to pray at the bedsides of dying patients as they succumb to terminal illnesses.<\/p>\n A PhD candidate in religion, Campbell believes dying in hospitals is hard, not just because mortality can be tough to face; medical institutions use language that makes dying a win or lose proposition. \u201cWe fight a \u2018war on cancer\u2019 or a \u2018battle against heart disease\u2019,\u201d he says. In our final moments, our focus is on the lost struggle, and we fail to acknowledge the value of a life well-lived. Campbell argues that we need new ways to comfort patients in their final moments.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat on earth do you tell somebody who is facing death,\u201d Campbell asks, \u201cand, ultimately, help them to live all the way up to an end that feels meaningful?\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell\u2019s academic research focuses on what makes dying in hospitals and other medical institutions emotionally painful, and suggests that classical and medieval consolation literature contains insight into better ways to console cancer and other terminally ill patients at the end of their lives.<\/p>\n This interdisciplinary approach reflects one direction scholarship in religion is taking, combining the study of faith with research in other disciplines\u2014the classics, economics, environment, gender studies, international relations, literature, and political science\u2014to tackle contemporary issues.<\/p>\n