Honoring the Dead in America: How Funerals Really Work

Fall (4-8 hours) | This course has been canceled

48 Lebanon Street Hanover, NH 03755 United States

Room 212

Repeat

10/13/2017-11/3/2017

View Schedule

$40.00

UPDATE: August 21, 2017:
3 sessions, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
October 13 through November 3, 2017
NO CLASS October 27!
Hanover Senior Center - Hanover, NH
Course Fee: $40

How we care for our dead in the US is a reflection of prevailing cultural, spiritual, and economic norms. Learn how the funeral industry came to be in the US, what influences are still at play, and how you can negotiate the purchase of professional goods and services to create a conventional funeral that meets your needs.

Then take a step out of the funeral industry to discover the historical precedent for caring for our own at home, how to work with professionals and authorities, and what the legal ins and outs are of caring for our own dead from death to disposition. We’ll debunk some myths about health and public safety, explore laws and policies, and explain how to create meaningful, affordable, and healing funerals that are family-directed and community supported.

Considering the disastrous environmental repercussions inherent in both vault burial and cremation, people are eager to find dispositions that are dignified, affordable, and eco-conscious. We’ll talk about the redeeming qualities of green or natural burial, products such as Bios Urns, mushroom suits, and reef balls, plus emerging processes that seek to replace death with life affirming activities and outcomes.

  • There is a reading packet for this course.
Webster, Lee

Lee Webster is a published author, higher ed and mortuary school educator, and internationally known public speaker and advocate for funeral reform, including home funerals and green burial. She has served in leadership positions of the National Home Funeral Alliance, Green Burial Council, Conservation Burial Alliance, National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, and NHPCO EOLD Council, and is the Director of New Hampshire and Vermont Funeral Resources & Education and the Funeral.org Partnership.