Dr Kate Woodthorpe on funeral practice and policy, state funeral support, death and loss as relational, public dying, and working in academia

What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Dr Kate Woodthorpe discuss funeral practice and policy, state funeral support, death and loss as relational, public dying and working in academia.

Who is Kate? 

Kate Woodthorpe became CDAS (the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, UK) Co-Director in 2021, having joined CDAS in January 2010, and acting as Programme Leader for the Foundation Degree in Funeral Services until 2012.

Kate has had articles and book chapters published on funeral costs, state support for funerals, mortuary practice, professional development, cemetery usage, the experience of researching in this area, and public dying.

She is on the editorial board for Death Studies, Bereavement Care, Sociology, and Mortality, which she co-edited until 2019.

She has advised the UK Government on funeral policy over many years, including in 2016 as a Special Adviser to the Government's Work and Pensions Select Committee Inquiry on Bereavement Benefits, and provided evidence in 2019 to the Competition and Market's Authority Funeral Sector Investigation.

She is keen to support the next generation of academics and has published a book for PhD students and early career colleagues entitled 'Survive and Thrive in Academia: the new academic's pocket mentor' (2018, Routledge).

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

Woodthorpe, K. (2022) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 February 2022. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.19102700

What next?

Check out more episodes or find out more about the hosts! Got a question? Get in touch.