Death and Sexuality
BSA Death, Dying and Bereavement Study Group Annual Symposium
14 December 2023
The 2023 edition of the BSA Death, Dying and Bereavement Group Annual Symposium invited sociologists to map the intersections of death and sexuality. Submissions spanned from sexual activity and intimacy at the end of life to partner bereavement, extended families, and the memorialization of queer scholars and identities. Cross-cutting themes were experiences of marginality and discrimination concerning sexual expression and relationships reported by older adults, people living with a life-limiting disease and LBTQIA+ identifying people.
The symposium was recorded, and the recording is available to watch below and on YouTube.
The full program is detailed below, with the full abstracts available here. Some authors kindly shared their slide presentations too.
Keynote
- Sex, danger and vulnerability: young adults living with life-shortening conditions - slides
Professor Sarah Earle, Nottingham Trent University, UK (presentation from 0:00)
Session 1: Sex and intimacy in later life and the end of life
- The Death of Sex?:Exploring Affirmative Rejections of Sex Against Successful Ageing - slides
Dr Giulia Nazzaro, Nika Looman and Professor Katrien De Graeve, Ghent University, Belgium (presentation from 1:05:15) - Supporting sex and intimacy until the end of life for older adults living with dementia - slides
Dr Alisa Grigorovich, Brock University and Dr Pia Kontos, University of Toronto, Canada (presentation from 1:50:58) - Intergenerational conversations about LGBTQ+ needs at the end-of-life – persisting fears in a changing world, reflections from Sweden
Dr Max Kleijberg, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Session 2: LGBTQ+ people, close relationships, and loss
- Death and Dying in the Queer Family
Polly Maxwell, University of Bath, UK (presentation from 2:32:00) - Queer (In)visible and Disenfranchised: The Situation of LGBTQ+ Seniors in the Czech Republic - slides
Světlana Nedvědová, Masaryk University, CZ (presentation from 2:59:00) - Death, Intergenerationality and Sexuality Scholarship – Memory, Mentorship, Boundary Work and the Queer 'Queer' Legacy of Ken Plummer's Writing
Dr Christian Klesse, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK (presentation from 3:19:42)
Session 3: Memorialization, identity, and the body
- Narrative Transgressions: Identity and bereavement in Latin American Cinema
Dr Meiko Makita and Scott Morris, University of Dundee, UK (presentation at 3:55:26) - Bidding a Final Adieu in Darkness: The Saga of Hijaras (transgenders) in India
Dr Veenat Arora, Post Graduate Government College for Girls, India - Tactile Intimacies of Death: Corpse Washers and Gendered Limits of Mourning in Turkey
Dr Asli Zengin, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, USA