For many years cancer was something that not many people in American society spoke openly about. Families were forced to grieve in silence and often cancer victims were treated not as sick patients but as culprits for their disease.

According to Cancer Detection & Prevention Online, Dr. Aaron Lazare of the University of Massachusetts Medical School writes, "Patients may be blamed for being ill, on account of their state of mind or because of what they eat. Even obituaries talk about the "battle" in which the patients are the losers."

As the years passed society evolved and came to understand and accept a disease that had been kept in the dark for so long. Now as a society, we strive to learn more about cancer.

Since 1999 SF State students have also had the opportunity to learn about a disease that affects so many people. Meeting every Monday and Wednesday, “The Big C,” or NEXA 375 if you want to be boring about it, deals with not only the scientific aspect of cancer but also the social aspect.

Taught jointly by professors Mary Luckey and Meg Schoerke, the class examines issues such as the causes of cancer and how ideas are shaped about cancer through cancer memoirs, films and essays.

Luckey, of the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, focuses on the scientific aspect of the class while Schoerke, of the English department, focuses on the literatary and humanitarian aspect.

“I think students react well to our pairing up because they get to witness us disagree and carry a dialogue,” said Luckey.

The class gives students the opportunity to open up about something that is difficult to talk about. “We show the students in our class that this is something to be spoken of and that this is not just a medical term,” said Schoerke.

While the class may be heavy in science and literature, something some students may be turned off by, it is not just for English and Pre-Med students.

“The class is a mix of science and non-science majors, and I think it brings an interesting perspective to the class by having people from different fields,” said Schoerke.

The class also provides a discussion of the family crises and how to deal with the aftereffects of how some people deal when their loved ones have passed on.

“We spend two weeks on death and dying, something our culture does not like to talk about,” said Luckey.

As professors, Luckey and Schoerke make an excellent fit for this class, said student Peggy Powers. “They are extremely informative,” said the 42-year-old senior liberal studies major, “also since the class is small it makes it real intimate.”

Indeed, Luckey and Schoerke provide an atmosphere of intimacy in which one is allowed to freely speak their mind.

On this day, as in all others, the class sits in a circle, and this time discusses a book regarding a man and his battle with leukemia.

Schoerke commands the class today and immediately has one of the students reciting his favorite metaphor from the book. As he reads, he recites a passage that makes the whole class burst out in laughter brightening up the mood of the class just like the warm afternoon sun bursting into the classroom.

While Schoerke, with her expertise in literature is able to indulge the entire class with her own similes and metaphors from the book, Luckey, on the other hand sits silently with a smile on her face.

It may seem like Schoerke is doing all the talking but her expertise fails her when sophomore Connor Robinson, 19, said, “I don’t know what a biopsy is.”

Luckey immediately sits straight up and gives the student an in-depth answer of what a biopsy is.

“I really appreciate having both of them here, said Robinson, a Comparative Literature major. “Sometimes the readings can be a bit heavy and it helps to have them both here.”

Indeed, the reading in the class is not for the faint of heart. “There’s lots of reading, and I don’t like to read but they’re so interesting that I can’t put them down,” said Megan Resetar,19, a cancer survivor herself. Resetar, a sophomore who hopes to go into the nursing program, finds the readings very informative. “Yeah, there are lots of books to buy, but with something like cancer there is just so much information.”

Luckey said the reason for the heavy reading load is that there are so many cancers and so much literature on it. “Cancer is not just one disease, rather it’s hundreds and each person who has one goes through their own experiences.”

Schoerke adds that this class helps students understand and how to cope with anyone in their family having any type of sickness. The two professors try to get across to all theirclasses that this is not a class about science and literature but about important life lessons, which we will all need at some point in our lives.