Death in the 21st Century: From Ancient Rituals to Human Composting

Talks on Tuesdays is a live event series bringing big ideas, real experts, and curious minds together - at your favourite local venues. Think thought-provoking lectures, audience questions, and post-talk mingling over drinks and dinner.

This isn’t a uni lecture. It’s a social, intelligent night out.Come alone or with friends, leave with something to talk about.

Event Schedule:

6.30pm Arrival & Doors Open

7pm Lecuture Starts

7.45pm Q&A

8pm Talk Concludes

8.30pm Event Closes.

*Please arrive close to 6.30pm

A La Carte menu and full bar available throughout the night - pay as you go.

Your Topic:

Death in the 21st Century: From Ancient Rituals to Human Composting
Everybody dies; something must be done with the bodies. For most people around the world and throughout time, the solution has been techniques of preservation (embalming, freezing), followed by burial or cremation. But new ‘green death’ and ‘high tech’ solutions - like human composting and alkaline hydrolysis - are emerging, as well as speculative, creative means of handling human ash. In this talk, Dr Gould talk explores the scientific, cultural, and ethical dimensions of how we choose to handle the dead and how these choices reflect our deepest held values.

Your Speaker:

Dr Hannah Gould is cultural anthropologist reproaching death, religion and technology in Australia and North-East Asia. Her research spans new traditions and technologies of death rites, the lifecycle of religious materials, and contemporary spirituality. Dr Gould is currently Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Studies in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies and a member of the DeathTech Research Team at the University of Melbourne. Her new book, ‘How to Die in the 21st Century’ was published with Thames & Hudson in March 2026.

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