This book reviews the spectrum of death, from when the living person turns to corpse until the person lives in the memory of mourners, and its impact on the ecology of the socio-cultural community and physical environment.This book demonstrates that American society today is in a pivotal period for re-imaging end-of-life care, funerary services, human disposition methods, memorializing, and mourning. The editors and contributors outline the past, present, and future of death care rituals, pointing to promising new practices and innovative projects that show how we can better integrate the dying and dead with the living and create positive change that supports sustainable stewardship of our environment. Individual chapters describe prevailing practices and issues in different settings where people die and in postmortem rituals; disposition and current ecologically and, in urban areas, spatially unsustainable methods; law of human remains; customs and trends among key stakeholders, such as cemeteries and funeral directors; and relevant technological advances. The book culminates in a presentation of emerging sustainable disposition technologies and innovative designs for proposed public memorial projects that respond to shifting values, beliefs, and priorities among an increasingly diverse population.

FiguresAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChristina Staudt and Karla RothsteinChapter 1 History and Background: How Our American Burial Traditions EmergedJoseph W. DaubenChapter 2 Corpse Preservation and Final Disposition Methods: Impact on Urban Centers and the EnvironmentCaitlin Campbell and Karla RothsteinChapter 3 From Deathbed to Morgue: "Rebooting" the SystemChristina StaudtChapter 4 Redirecting Funeral Rituals and Mourning PracticesChristina StaudtChapter 5 Modernizing the Law of Human Remains: Challenges and OpportunitiesTanya D. MarshChapter 6 Nature versus Culture: Shifting Values in American CemeteriesDavid Charles SloaneChapter 7 Rethinking the Role of the Funeral DirectorLee WebsterChapter 8 Digital Tools: Grieving through ScreensCandi K. CannChapter 9 A Covenant among Generations: Keeping Trust in the Republic and the LawBruce Jennings and Catherine M. Hammack-AviranChapter 10 New Mortuary Technologies and Memorial DesignsCaitlin Campbell and Karla RothsteinOnwardKarla Rothstein and Christina StaudtEssential ReferencesAbout the Editors and ContributorsIndex