Grief is a normal reaction to loss, and something that each of us is likely to experience multiple times in our lives. How and what we grieve is personal and differs for everyone, but grief鈥檚 impacts are often protracted and profound, and not easily or neatly separated from our work lives.

My mother died three years ago during reading week. In that week I took two flights, made four 6-hour drives between the farm and Winnipeg, made numerous decisions pertaining to the funeral, wrote and delivered a eulogy, comforted my daughter, and said good-bye to my mum. Yet, I thought that I would wake up Monday morning and carry on. It was one of my dear colleagues who said 鈥渘o鈥� to that plan. She kindly (and firmly) instructed me to contact our director and to ask for some time off. I did that. I still recall the relief I felt. Although it was hard for me to let my colleagues know about something that was so deeply personal, when my grief was shared and met with compassion, I was then able to take the time and space I needed to grieve and to begin to heal.

Heather Hart, Nurse; Associate Professor, Ingram School of Nursing

This website was developed within the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice-Principal (Academic) (OPEVPA) in conversation with faculty members and academic administrators who have experienced a death-related loss while working at 不良研究所 and who accepted an invitation to come together to identify approaches and resources that can better support those navigating grief and bereavement. Paramount for us was to ensure that what we developed was tailored to the particularities of grieving for academics, who were likely to have significant responsibilities related to teaching, research, and service.

We encourage you to connect with grief.liaison [at] mcgill.ca (Stephanie Posthumus and Tamara Sussman, Faculty Liaisons) for academic staff living with grief and bereavement, for any questions you may have or additional information.

Meet our Faculty Liaisons:

Stephanie Posthumus is an associate professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. St茅fan Sinclair, her partner, also a professor at 不良研究所, passed away in August 2020. Her experiences of navigating grief as an academic motivated her to develop resources for colleagues and academic leaders grieving or supporting someone who is grieving.鈥�

Tamara Sussman is a Professor in the School of Social work. Tamara lost both of her parents during her tenure at 不良研究所. Working on this grief initiative has helped her to bridge her research/clinical interests with her personal experiences navigating grief and loss in the academy.