Cindy Lauren Stocken
PhD
Anthropology
Cindy is an anthropologist and PhD candidate bringing her curiosity to changing end-of-life rites in Australia, in particular the emerging rituals of living funerals. From her established career in travel, learning and development, brand development and as a small business founder, Cindy brings a rich and varied lived experience to her anthropological practice. As Chair of Australian Network of Student Anthropologists she is dedicated to connecting and platforming students, and early career researchers, across institutions. Cindy enjoys actively researching across diverse fields in collaborative environments as part of both the Death Tech Research Team and the Critical Ethnography Lab.
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Thesis
Saying Goodbye: A study of Living Funerals
This project aims to describe and investigate 'Living Funerals', being the ritualised gathering of people in a celebration of life event before their death. This emerging ritual has seen increased popularity over the past 10 years, especially as popular media continues to share stories highlighting their, often playful, creativity. These events are called many different names and are typically defined as the hosting of one's own funeral before dying. This project aims to explore these occasions for the purposes of understanding the processes and practices of ritual creativity, changes in death and funerary practices, and why people are choosing these rites.