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Lessons in terror
LINDSAY LAFRAUGH
02/13/2008

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We are all going to die.
How people react to that reality is the interesting part, say two Confederation College professors.
Sue Hoffman and John Kornichuk have teamed up to teach the psychology of terror course, a general education elective offered for the first time this semester, in which students from various programs will discuss the Terror Management Theory.
The course evolved from a discussion the pair had about the fear and anxiety that rushed through their facility when Thunder Bay high schools and some elementary schools experienced a lockdown last April.
The schools were locked down while police searched for a 15-year-old runaway who was thought to be armed and headed for school. The lockdown was over within a few hours when the missing teen was arrested, but Hoffman and Kornichuk said something became clear to them that day.
“It was very interesting to see the effect of that fear that this student had created in the community and how it effects all of us,” said Hoffman.
“We realized there is something going on here . . . we realized there was something greater and broke off and did some research.”
The pair came across Terror Management Theory, which evolved out of the work of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker.
“(The theory) explains why we panicked and ultimately, taking it back to the Terror Management Theory, which is the fear of our own mortality. . . that kid created that fear among all of us,” Hoffman said.
After doing more research, Kornichuk said he and Hoffman realized studying the theory would give students an opportunity to look at the root causes of human behaviour, whether it is committing an act of terrorism, a school shooting or using a racist remark.
Looking for a little direction, the pair began corresponding with Sheldon Solomon, a professor of psychology at Skidmore College in New York and a recent co-recipient of the American Psychological Association‘s Presidential Award for his research in the development of the Terror Management Theory.
And after some encouraging feedback, Hoffman and Kornichuk spent most of their summer working with the college to develop a course based on terror management.
Now with mid-terms around the corner, Kornichuk said both time slots for the course, which he and Hoffman are teaching as a team, are maxed out and class attendance has been phenomenal.
“It is not necessarily a specific skill set but an opportunity to look critically at themselves and their place within the world,” he said about what the students get out of the course.
“(They find their place) on individual levels, municipal and community levels, and on national and international levels.”
Gary Kemp, a second-year paramedic student, had to get special permission to take psychology of terror above and beyond his other courses, since his program doesn‘t offer room for electives.
“The course teaches you why we do what we do,‘‘ Kemp said.
“Understanding the root cause of what makes a person behave the way they do under different circumstances, it has got to be the most relevant thing I can think of,” he said.
Kemp said the way Hoffman and Kornichuk are team-teaching the course makes for one of the most interesting classroom settings he has been in.
“I have some great teachers in my program, but I have to say that the way we are being taught in this class is absolutely unique and without doubt one of the best class presentations that I have ever (seen),” he said.
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