Making Sense of Dying During the Covid-19 Pandemic  – How Can Classic Anthropological Theories Help Us?

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards 1 Comment

How can anthropological theories enhance understanding of how people dying of Covid-19 were treated during the height of the pandemic? Dr Marian Krawczyk and I are both anthropologists who teach and research about end of life. We felt there was value in highlighting some key theories which could aid public understanding. Our new 2023 article,… Continue reading

Paddleton: A Film Review

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards Leave a comment

This review was written by Kelly Oberle and Jennifer Rigal, both students on the End of Life Studies MSc programme at the University of Glasgow. In the fall of 2021, as students on the Assisted Dying: Rhetorics and Reality module in the End of Life Studies MSc program at the University of Glasgow, we were… Continue reading

Creating Representations of Dying, Death, and Grief: An Innovative Student Assignment

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards Leave a comment

On the End of Life Studies MSc Programme, there is a course entitled Cultural Representations of Death and Dying which examines how dying, death and grief have been represented in popular culture (film, TV, mainstream fiction), visual arts (fine art, photography) and literary genres (creative non- fiction) over the last half century. Students are introduced to… Continue reading

The Value of Death at the National Cancer Institute in Mexico City

Published on: Author: Marian Krawczyk Leave a comment

In this blog Gina Tarditi, a psychologist in Mexico City and End of Life Studies MSc student, describes an event she organised with oncologists to debate 2022 Lancet Report on the Value of Death. I work at The National Cancer Institute (INCAN) in Mexico City which is one of the largest cancer centers in Latin… Continue reading

DeathWrites Network – 2nd Symposium

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards 1 Comment

The DeathWrites Network, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and University of Glasgow Arts Lab, held its 2nd Symposium on 6th October, 2022. During the hybrid event at the historic Glasgow Women’s Library, we heard keynotes from the Scottish poet, playwright, and performer Hannah Lavery and from the Open Museum curator, Elaine Addington. Our Network of 30 talented Scotland-based writers,… Continue reading

Digital Stories about Financial Insecurity & Hardship at End of Life

Published on: Author: Naomi Richards Leave a comment

Today, Tuesday 27th September 2022, we are releasing the first 3 digital stories from our research project about barriers to, and experiences of, home dying when experiencing financial insecurity and hardship. Digital stories are 2-3 minute films combining photos, music and voiceover, within a narrative structure. This is a participatory visual method, adapted for use… Continue reading

Contextualizing the death of Queen Elizabeth II

Published on: Author: samquinn Leave a comment

On 8th September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In the weeks that have followed, there has been debate on what can be learnt from the Queen’s death, her funeral, and the famous queue. In a Twitter thread with over 2 million engagements, Dr Kathryn Mannix (@drkathrynmannix), a palliative care… Continue reading

Reporting on the First International End-of-Life Doula Symposium

Published on: Author: Marian Krawczyk Leave a comment

This blog provides a brief overview of the International End-of-Life Doula Symposium and a link to the Symposium’s summary report. This virtual symposium was held over three days on April 25-27th 2022 and was a co-produced effort between academic researchers, End-of-Life Doulas, and graduate students in our End of Life Studies programme [1]. It was… Continue reading