Hi Kate,

What a bonus that the BSA  has you to convene this group. 

To reply to your request: 
 
I'm a sociologist at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New
Zealand and  I teach and research on  social aspects of death and
dying.  I run two  courses on d&d
Undergrad  on  Current controversies in thanatology - which  focuses on
getting second year sociology students familiar with:  the debate over
whether death is sequestered in contemporary Western societies and also
ways in which  NZ's death practices ( i.e. Pakeha, Maori and recent
settlers) are a very useful way into  understanding  NZ society as a
post-colonial, multi-cultural, post-universal welfare state nation. 

Post grad course is "death in a global age" and examines the ways in
which  contemporary death practices  shape and are shaped by global
forces.  

I also teach into  to sociology and on poverty and welfare states  that
uses a bit of death  stuff to help illustrate significant social trends
and  ways of   getting to grips with " the social". 

A recent area of research  focuses on  death and poverty - a study of
people's attitudes to the cost of funerals. I'm hoping to extend this
preliminary scoping project more widely and an interested in
international  research collaboration /  joint-funding possibilities
with other  death and dying scholars. 

Previous research has focussed on the moral regulation of suicide (using
a Foucauldian approach)  and small  pieces of research looking at bodily
disposal trends in relation to  growing significance of  community and
land sustainability debates. 




Best Wishes
Ruth
__________________________________________
Dr Ruth McManus 
Senior Lecturer in Sociology 
School of Social and Political Science,
College of Arts,
University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, New Zealand
phone : +64 3 364 2987 ext 3046
fax : +64 3 364 2977
http://www.soci.canterbury.ac.nz/people/staff-rm.shtml

Current project: Final Arrangements 
http://www.nzdeathresearchcentre.org.nz

President SAANZ 
http://saanz.rsnz.org/
  

-----Original Message-----
From: The Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal of the Dead
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of K Almack
Sent: Wednesday, 24 June 2009 10:57 p.m.
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sociology and death

Hello Kate

Great that you are convening this group.

I'm a sociologist within the Sue Ryder Care Centre for Palliative and
End of Life Studies at Nottingham.
I'll forward your email to Becky Chady here who I think would be able to
give you a better overview of teaching here than I could.

In terms of research a key area of mine is exploring end of life care
and bereavement within same sex relationships and communities, set in
the context of changing demographics, new family forms and personal
networks.

Best wishes
Kathy


Dr Kathryn Almack
Sue Ryder Care Centre for Palliative and End of Life Studies B63c, South
Block Link School of Nursing University of Nottingham QMC Nottingham
NG7 2UH
 
+44 (0) 115 8231204


-----Original Message-----
From: The Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal of the Dead
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kate Woodthorpe
Sent: 18 June 2009 17:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Sociology and death

Dear colleagues

As the new convenor of the British Sociological Association study group
'The Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement' (DDB for short), I
am emailing as part of a scoping exercise to find out about sociologists
undertaking research or teaching in this area, both in the UK and
abroad.

If you are a sociologist by training or work within the social sciences
more generally I would be very grateful if you could contact me at
[log in to unmask] and tell me a little about what you are
researching on or teach about death. 

My aim ultimately is to share information about colleagues' activities
on the study group webpage (address below) so interested parties can
know where

the sociology of death is being taught, find out about PhD students'
work and
what sociologists in this area are currently researching. Of course, I
would not put anything on the webpage without your permission.

I would appreciate it if you could circulate this email to your
colleagues who are working in this area.

Many thanks in advance and look forward to hearing from you Kate

For further details about the group please follow the link below:
http://www.britsoc.co.uk/specialisms/MedSocDDB.htm 

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