Mount Mercy students bring “Dead Man Walking” beyond the classroom

One by one, students stood up, introduced themselves, and spoke directly to the woman whose story they had only encountered on the page weeks before. Across the room, Sister Helen Prejean listened as they described reading "Dead Man Walking" in their classes, then responded, not as an abstract author, but as someone who had lived every moment they had studied.

Across campus, the book has been incorporated into courses ranging from literature to human relations, allowing students to approach it through different academic lenses. For some, it served as a framework for analyzing narrative and conflict. For others, it became a lens for examining systems of inequality and social justice.

Maria Ferraro '27, an elementary education major, encountered the book in a course centered on human relations and systems of oppression.

"In our classes, we would have conversations about racism and sexism. How it begins with having a prejudice, and then prejudice turns into discrimination, and then discrimination turns into oppression," Ferraro said. "That is very deeply tied to 'Dead Man Walking' and a lot of Sister Helen's work."

"Dead Man Walking" follows Prejean's experiences as a spiritual advisor to two men convicted of murder on death row, exploring themes of mercy and the human dignity of both victims and those convicted of crimes. Maria Milliman '27, a business management major, approached the book from a literary perspective in her world literature course.

"We were working in class on structures of conflict in literature," Milliman said. "We had a lot of good discussions about what Sister Helen went through."

At the end of the unit, students were asked to write letters directly to Prejean as a way to reflect on the book and explore how they personally connected with its themes. Milliman had the opportunity to offer the letters directly to Prejean during the luncheon.

"We wrote letters to Sister Helen, just thanking her and sharing our thoughts," Milliman said, describing the assignment as a way to respond personally to the story beyond class discussion.