Death Rituals Around the World

Naomi Westerman was an anthropologist who travelled the world studying death rituals across cultures — until her entire family died suddenly. Now a death acceptance activist and author of UK bestseller Happy Death Club, she brings a uniquely personal and anthropological lens to the question of how we use ritual to cope with loss and the inevitability of death.

The talk covers diverse death practices past and present: double burial in rural China, mortuary endo-cannibalism in the Amazon jungle, Mexico's Day of the Dead, Irish wakes, and Jewish shiva ceremonies. Westerman will also read briefly from Happy Death Club and discuss why creating more secular communal grieving rituals matters now.

Online via Zoom. $8. A recording will be sent to ticket holders after the event.