Lecturer in Health Studies, with particular interest in contemporary death, dying and bereavement practices.
PhD in Sociology, thesis entitled 'Negotiating Uncertainty and Ambiguity: the contemporary cemetery landscape' (University of Sheffield, fully-funded by the ESRC)
MA in Sociological Research with Specialism in the Sociology of Health (University of Warwick)
BA (Hons) in Sociology (University of Lancaster)
Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (University of Sheffield)
Diploma in Professional Development, Voluntary Organisations (Middlesex University, Distance Learning)
Professional Memberships
Associate Member of the Higher Education Academy
Association of Death Education and Counselling
British Sociological Association
American Sociological Association
International Sociological Association
Currently contributing to the presentation of K260 'Death and Dying' and K203 'Working for Health'. Member of course production team for new course K217, which will draw on K202/K203 'Care, Welfare and the Community' and 'Working for Health'. Follow this link to see our course team blog. Especially interested in the development of innovative and novel teaching techniques that draw upon up-to-date scholarly research activity to provide a stimulating environment for students.
Research interests centre around contemporary death, dying and disposal and the environments in which they are experienced and practiced. The commercial climate and professional identity of those working in areas associated with death and bereavement are particular interests, as are the ways in which relationships with dead people are negotiated. These are underpinned by a keen interest in collaborative practice-based research, and the productive utilisation of ethnographic fieldwork techniques, such as participant observation.
Publications
Woodthorpe, K. (forthcoming) The Culture and Economies of Death (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate)
Hockey, J., Komaromy, C. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds) (forthcoming) The Matter of Death: space, place and materiality (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan)
Woodthorpe, K. (forthcoming) ‘Corpses, boundaries and taboo: tension in the cemetery landscape', in Hockey, J., Komaromy, C. and Woodthorpe, K. (eds) The Matter of Death: space, place and materiality (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan)
Woodthorpe, K. (2009) 'Reflecting on death: the emotionality of the research encounter', Mortality, 14 (1): 70-86.
Woodthorpe, K. (2009) 'Cosmetic Restoration', 'Death Mask' and 'Pre-need Arrangements' entries in C.D. Bryant and D.L. Peck (eds) Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage)
Meyer, M. and Woodthorpe, K. (2008) 'The Material Presence of Absense: a dialogue between museums and cemeteries', Sociological Research Online, 13, 5.
Philips, D., Hagan, T., Bodfield, E., Woodthorpe, K. and Grimsley, M. (2008) ‘Exploring the impact of group work and mentoring for multiple heritage children’s self-esteem, well-being and behaviour’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 16, 3: 310-321.
Woodthorpe, K. (2007) 'My Life After Death: connecting the field, the findings and the feelings', Anthropology Matters, 1-11.
Hockey, J. and Woodthorpe, K. (2006) ‘Funeraire 2005, Report on the Salon Professionnel International de l'Art Funeraire, Paris, Le Bourget’, Mortality, 11, 4: 382-383
Convenor of the British Sociological Association 'Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement' study group
Member of the Open University Birth and Death Research Group
Current PhD supervision topics include study of end of life care in China
Member of Membership Editorial Advisory Board for BSA newsletter publication 'Network'
Publications in non-peer reviewed sources include articles in the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management Trade Journal, the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities Journal, Funeral Directors Monthly Magazine, Funeral Service Journal and the Association of Death Education and Counseling newsletter 'The Forum'
Conferences and seminars presented at include The Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal International Conference; British Sociological Association Annual Conference; BSA Medical Sociology Annual Conference; Cemetery Research Group; BSA Death, Dying and Bereavement symposium; and the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management Annual Conference
Invited judge of the Cemetery of the Year Awards 2008 and 2009, and presenter at the Annual Memorial Awareness Board Seminar, House of Commons, November 2008
Consulting Editor for the Hong Kong Journal of Social Work
ext. 53468
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