From mindfulness tools aimed at confronting terminal diagnoses and supporting hospice staff, to incense and chanting at otherwise secular funerals, Dying ‘Buddhish’ in Australia examines the current influence and future potential of Buddhist contemplative practice in mainstream end-of-life and death care. This project is funded by the Contemplative Studies Centre at The University of Melbourne, with co-investigator A/Prof Anna Halafoff (Deakin University).
Dying ‘Buddhish’ in Australia
Funded by the Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellowship, this new 3-year research project examines deathcare as a site of creative innovation and transnational exchange, in order to map the contours of contemporary death within the Asia-Pacific, and to generate new insights into how the region can meet future challenges to its care of the dying, dead, and bereaved.
Transnational Futures of Deathcare in the Asia-Pacific
Past | Ongoing Research
When Death Falls Apart
PhD fieldwork into collapsing and emerging material traditions of death Japan, focusing on Buddhist altars, graves, and columbaria
DeathTech
I work with the DeathTech Research Team, based at the University of Melbourne, on ARC funded grants: ‘Disposal of the Dead: Beyond Burial and Cremation’ and ‘The Future Cemetery’
Waste & Minimalism
Studying domestic disposal, decluttering, and organising, investigating the theologies of minimalist movements around the world
Endline
Endline: Deathcare During Melbourne’s Covid Crisis is a photo series by Bri Hammond, created in collaboration with Hannah Gould and Samuel Holleran.
Scentscapes of Asia
Forthcoming edited collection in the Penn State University Press Perspectives on Sensory History Series.
High Tech Death in Asia
Collaboration with scholars in Taiwan and Japan to explore advanced technologies (VR, robotics, etc.) for managing the care of the dead