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  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgoIlLTwPso In March 2021, Samuel Holleran participated in a panel discussion for MPavilion about cemeteries and the role of public art in memorial spaces. The event was co-organised with the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, and the recording is now available to watch on YouTube. Participants: Dr Amy Spiers, Claire Martin, Samuel Holleran, Hamish Coates and Katrina Simon Event description: Contemporary cemeteries are moving towards …

DeathTech research collaborator Dr Emily van der Nagel spoke to the Guardian recently about preparing a "digital will" and organising your digital legacy. From the article: Dr Emily van der Nagel from Monash University says that people should spend some time planning for how their online accounts and identities will be managed after they die. At a basic level, she says people should …

Dr Hannah Gould spoke to the Guardian about the crisis of space affecting Sydney's cemeteries. From the article: Gould compares the situation to climate change. “It’s a slow moving crisis, and it’s hard to communicate exactly why it’s a problem … until all of a sudden we’ve got a situation where it’s here.” Culturally, socially and physically “people are being pushed further and …

Professor Mike Arnold discusses his research on the intersections between death, technology and society, in this final episode of the SHAPS Forum ‘Disaster & Change’ podcast series, hosted by Dr Henry Reese. Listen on the player below or on your favourite podcast platform. A full transcript of the episode is available on the SHAPS Forum website.

Call for Papers: Special Issue for Anthropology Quarterly Anthropology has long framed death as a crisis, both within an individual’s life trajectory and for the existential continuity of the community. In the tradition of scholarship following Hertz (1960), mortuary and funerary rituals are framed as a site of collective action mounted in response to crisis. They are transformative and curative in their …

DeathTech’s open call to artists received 34 innovative and thoughtful proposals - thank you to all of those who so generously responded to the call. We are excited to announce the following artists have been commissioned from the shortlist, and the team is looking forward to working with all:  Georgia Banks https://www.georgiabanks.info/work Catherine Bell  https://suttongallery.com.au/artists/catherine-bell/ Farnaz Dadfar  https://farnazdadfar.com Eric Jong  http://www.ericjong.com.au/art Chantelle Mitchell and Jaxon Waterhouse  https://ecologicalgyretheory.com/About Laura …

Aisha from RRR Radio chats with Melbourne University anthropologist Dr Hannah Gould about the DeathTech research of bringing new life to cemeteries. They discuss augmented realities, QR codes on gravestones, and eco-friendly burials.  Listen to the full programme here

Dr Hannah Gould spoke to Studio 10 about new and emerging alternatives to burial and cremation. "Let's talk about death!" Digging Deep Into Death Technology - Hannah Gould - Studio 10Download The segment aired on Wednesday the 21st of October. Watch it on 10play.com.au or Facebook.

The DeathTech team are pleased to present two new reports from our Future Cemetery Research Project. This project is funded by The Australian Research Council (LP180100757) with the support of our Linkage Partners, The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT). The Future Cemetery project aims to identify and critically assess the potential of innovative technologies to enhance the public’s experience of …

A new article in The Guardian looks at the new players and new practices in death care that have attained greater prominence under the restrictions of Covid-19. DeathTech team member Samuel Holleran provides an explanation of some of these "death disruptors": They're coming into a locked-in industry that has all sorts of received traditions that go back to before the second world …

This week, several members of the DeathTech Research Team were featured in the ABC Radio National programme, God Forbid. Listen here. Is it possible to be biologically dead, but socially alive? What would that entail? On God Forbid, James and panel find out more about the digital afterlife.  In this episode:  Ever logged into Facebook and received a notification about someone – …

During a time of rapid change and global crisis, the interdisciplinary DeathTech team at the University of Melbourne is researching the intersection of death, technology and society. We are exploring practices used to dispose of the deceased, from burial and cremation to newly emerging techniques and designs for the treatment of the dead, for example high-rise cemeteries, water cremation and …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5efLmQdpio In June 2020, the DeathTech Research Team hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with death scholars and practitioners in Australia, the UK and the US, to share how funerals have changed under the coronavirus pandemic and to discuss what this might mean for the future of death. The COVID-19 pandemic not only represents a serious threat to human life and livelihoods, it …

Our article for The Conversation, “Small funerals, online memorials and grieving from afar: the coronavirus is changing how we care for the dead”, has been translated into Japanese for The Big Issue Japan. DeathTech研究チームから新しい記事が出版しまた。こちらのリンクで読みます。

DeathTech team member Hannah Gould was interviewed for an article in The Canberra Times, exploring how funeral practice is adapting to COVID-19 conditions: There are other ways in which funerals may change permanently, according to Dr Hannah Gould, an anthropologist at the University of Melbourne who studies the rituals of death around the world. “We want to be careful and not make …

Help us understand how COVID-19 is changing deathcare, funerals, and memorialisation worldwide by contributing to this collaborative, open research platform. We have established a platform to share accounts of how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing deathcare, including end-of-life and mortuary care, arranging funerals, and ongoing memorialisation. This information is of interest to us as part of research into death and technology …