Hi. We are the Death Cluster, run by Meghan, Yasmine & Chindilani and funded by the AHRC. Despite our chosen topic we’re a friendly bunch and we’re always open to new members.
The point of the Death Cluster is to give people somewhere to talk about mortality and how it relates to everyday life. Lots of academic spheres touch on death — philosophy, archaeology, biology, medicine — but even outside of academia, death is an ever-present yet often unacknowledged character in our lives.
In 2025 we have an exciting schedule of events planned, most of which are taking place on Zoom so that we can invite people from all over the country to participate. We are also incorporating crafts into this year’s events, encouraging attendees to create small artworks to represent their thoughts and feelings about the topics under discussion.
The upcoming schedule is below. If you would like to come along to an event, please get in touch via the contact form and we will send further info.
May 12th Music and Mortality: Dancing with Death
We will be creating paintings or mixed media figures while we talk about music’s relationship with death. If possible, we would like to display these in an exhibition later in the year.
May 28th Women, Witches, and Collective Memory
Why were so many women accused of witchcraft? Have the witch hunts ended, or have they evolved over time? What does this mean for our collective history? We will be creating candles to go along with this event.
June 26th Disenfranchised Grief
What happens when grief cannot be properly acknowledged or processed? How do we deal with grief that is too complex to understand? Come along and talk with us about different types of grieving and what they mean for us as people. Please note: this is not a bereavement support group.
July 17th Climate Change and Humanity
What existential implications does climate change have for humankind? How have you been affected by the ongoing climate crisis, and has it made you think differently about your life and that of future generations? In this session, attendees will be encouraged to create a clay item or a poem expressing their feelings about the climate.
August 1st Film Screening
This screening will be held online (film TBC) followed by a discussion of the themes it evoked. There might also be an opportunity for some group members to meet up and watch the film in person, subject to availability.
August 12th The Art of Dying: Memento Mori through the Ages
Since the dawn of humanity, we have known we are going to die. Humans have always paid attention to how they bury their dead, but also to how they deal with the impending nature of their own death. In this discussion we will consider different types of memento mori throughout history and attendees will be encouraged to create their own version using any crafting materials they prefer.
September 5th Death Be Not Proud: Gen Z’s Attitudes Surrounding Death and Dying
Why do we spend so much time joking about death on the internet? A glance through Instagram or TikTok will show people from the millennial and gen z generations flippantly discussing wanting to die, or how humanity is doomed. How did we get to this point, and is it a healthy way to engage with such ostensibly serious topics? We will each create our own videos which, with permission, will be shared on the Death Cluster’s social media channels.
October 1st COVID-19 and the Threat of Death: Five Years On
Many people believe the pandemic is over, but COVID-19 is still generating new mutations and sending people to hospitals and morgues around the world. We will discuss how our home countries reacted to the pandemic, what we thought about those reactions, and how we feel about it now that it has largely disappeared from the news cycle. As part of this event we will each be braiding part a ‘thread of life’ which will then all be braided together to be shown in the exhibition.
October 6th Stanley Arts Exhibition (In Person: London)
We will be meeting up in Norwood, South London, to view an exhibition titled ‘Life Between Death: An Exhibition on Death, Grief and Rebirth through the Afterlife.’ Following this we will discuss the exhibition’s themes and how they link to the events we have been running throughout the year. (Please note that Stanley Arts is not a fully accessible venue, so if you have any accessibility requirements please call ahead to check if these can be accommodated.)
If you would like to come along to an event, please get in touch via the contact form and we will send further info.
Welcome to the Death Cluster 