The 6th International Symposium of the Death Online / Research Network

DEATH FUTURES: #DORS6

The 6th International Symposium of the Death Online / Research Network

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, May 31st – June 2nd, 2023

ABOUT

Digital media are now integral to death, grief and memory, from personal illness blogs and live-streamed funerals to online support groups and virtual memorials. Studying ‘death online’ involves attention to cultural change, identity performances, social bonding, legal matters, design innovations, business opportunities and more.

The Death Online Research Network was founded in Copenhagen in 2013 to encourage international collaboration and conversation around the study of death and digital media. 

The meeting will explore Death Futures in relation to Death Online research and practice. We warmly welcome new members to the network as well as old friends.

The future of death is entangled in uncertainty with technologies and human nature shifting in ways that are only just becoming apparent to us. Our legacies are now blended sites of on- and offline identities that come with questions of privacy, ownership and control, continuously being redefined both socially and legally. Fields of medical and genetic research offer us dreams of immortality while ecological concerns and cultural shifts are driving us towards new forms of dispersing human bodies at the end of life. Design and emerging technologies are at the forefront of these futures, driving forward developments and supporting rich imaginations and media representations of what the future of death might hold for societies.

KEYNOTES

• Dr Carla Sofka is a Professor of Social Work and thanatechnologist at Siena College in Loudonville (New York)
  
  
• Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes is a Reader in English Literature and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University
  
  
• Professor Larissa Hjorth is a digital ethnographer and socially-engaged artist in the School of Media & Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne.

PROGRAMME

Programme under construction, DORS#6 2023

VENUE

DORS#6 will take place at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and will be hosted by the School of Design in collaboration with Department ofHumanities. The conference will be held in City Campus East, which is in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne, just a couple of roads from the main shopping areas and cultural centres.  

Our hotel partner for this event is Motel One who have preferential rates for Northumbria conferences – you can book with them directly stating you are part of the DEATH FUTURES: #DORS6 conference at Northumbria University when making your booking and should be offered these rates:

• Double room, single occupancy – £59,
• Double room, double occupancy – £79
• Breakfast – £12.50 per person.

However, should you wish to arrange your own accommodation, Newcastle has a range of reasonable hotels, bed and breakfast or rental options and the city is very walkable. It additionally has good transport links to the coast and many sites of historic interest, such as Hadrian’s wall. 

For flights you can book to arrive directly at Newcastle International Airport or take a 3-hour train from any of the London airports, or a 1.5-hour train from Edinburgh. Either of these options can be booked via the train company LNER.   

CONFERENCE FEES

• Early Bird: £120 until Friday 31 March 
• Standard: £150
• PGR/ Video Presentation, Early Bird: £75 until Friday 31 March 
• PGR/ Video Presentation, Standard: £90 

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

There is also an option to attend a Post-Graduate Researcher (Junior Researcher) Workshop, which will take place on the 31st May (morning) / 2nd June (afternoon) please indicate if you would like to attend either of the sessions during the booking process.