Death School – Resources for understanding death

Death School convenes workshops and resources for understanding death. There is no agenda, religious or otherwise — Death School is not trying to push a certain view of anything onto anybody. Instead, it is our intention to offer, through workshops, online classes, and our blog, diverse ideas about death and dying from different cultures, discourses, religions, and professions, so that students leave with a broader, more spacious understanding of death. We believe that there doesn’t need to be any mystery around death — it’s natural, and it’s going to happen to every single living person — and that death can actually inspire us to connect with each other and live more joyfully when we integrate a clear understanding of it with our daily lives. For more about what Death School does, you can read this post on our blog.

Coming Events

We’re currently planning our first event. It will be held this summer in Eugene, OR — check back for more information!

Resources

Articles

“How Doctors Die” by Ken Murray. At the end of their lives, most doctors don’t want the heroic measures they often feel compelled to offer their patients.

“‘Death is having a moment’ in academia” by Karen Bassi

Websites

Sick Boy Podcast — Three guys talk about death with the dying.

Death Cafe — Gatherings hosted around the world for talking about death.

Death Salon — Curated intellectual gatherings around the world to start conversations about death.

Courses

PHIL 176: Death — An academic approach to talking about death taught by a philosophy professor. All lectures are online.

Support Us

So far, all of Death School’s expenses are covered by me, Evelyn. I’m happy to do this — Death School is my project, and I want it to thrive. However, for Death School to be able to grow and reach people beyond the limits of my simple means, it needs support. In short, Death School relies on donations from people who believe in its mission.

Here are some of the plans and hopes and dreams I have for Death School’s future:

Buy a van that lets me take Death School on the road, making stops all over the country to convene discussions and lead classes.
Become a non-profit! Financial support will help me to hire a lawyer and pay all the fees that come along with filing for non-profit status.
Operate from a central location, and have space for resident artists and be able to host retreats.
Offer all of Death School’s classes and retreats on a sliding scale, so that anyone can participate.
Invite meditation teachers and other professional death workers to give guest lectures, and be able to cover their expenses.
There’s so much! I’d like Death School to reflect the interests of its community. If there’s anything you’d be interested in seeing Death School do, to help educate people about death and make the whole dying thing less scary, please, be in touch!

You can support Death School monetarily by making a one-time or recurring donation through PayPal. To do that, please fill out the form below.

Your donation goes directly to Death School’s operations, which include organizing sliding-scale classes and retreats as well as artists’ residencies, maintaining our website, and paying our employees fairly.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us — the best way to do that is here.

Donate Now

You can make a one-time or recurring donation through PayPal:

Recurring donations help provide a stable financial base for Death School, so we can plan longer-term projects. Of course, any donation of any amount is very much appreciated.

You can also donate by mail — contact us for the address.