DeKALB – While most history professors might focus on major events and figures throughout history, Associate Professor Vera Lind centers her research around the topic of death and suicide.

Lind was born in Germany and earned her doctorate at the University of Kiel. While earning her doctorate, Lind decided to write on the topic of death. Lind explained she wanted to find out more about death since it is something that personally affects her.

“A couple of my friends already died by suicide. I was looking for answers basically to find out more about death,” Lind said. “Unfortunately, the more I researched about death, the more mysterious it became.”

Shortly after graduating from the University of Kiel, Lind’s book on the history of suicide and its decriminalization was published.

“It used to be a crime and a terrible sin to commit suicide,” Lind said. “I looked at the development of viewing suicide as a treatable illness that we do today, and how that decriminalization happened today.”

Lind’s next project pertains to the definition of death and how it has changed over time.

“Even today there’s still controversy about how we define death,” Lind said. “We have this ‘brain dead’ definition where you see cases where relatives cannot accept the diagnosis of ‘brain dead’ because of the person still being warm and connected to the machines.”

When asked about her accomplishments, Lind spoke fondly about the relationship she and her students share.

“I really love teaching and connecting with young people. Getting to know them, their lives and hopefully teaching them something interesting that might be useful for the future,” she said.

Outside of class, Lind said her creativity thrives in woodworking – mainly boat building – and sewing.

“I like hands-on things after all this teaching and thinking. I really like to do something hands-on,” she said.

Lind currently teaches Western Civilization, General History of Early Modern Europe, History of Science and History of the Enlightenment. History of Science and History of the Enlightenment are her current favorites to teach.

“I love history. I just think it’s very important to know where you come from for identity, but I think history can also give us comfort,” Lind said. “I draw comfort from all these millions of people who lived before us, who dealt with a lot of the same problems, and look at how they dealt with that.”

Professor Lind is available from noon to 2 p.m. on Mondays and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays in Zulauf Hall, Room 610.