About the project
This study explores 'grave goods' in the contemporary UK context.
Grave goods are any items placed with the dead when they are buried or cremated.
This study is being conducted by Dr Jennifer Riley at the University of Aberdeen, supported by The Leverhulme Trust early career fellowship scheme.
On this page you can find out more about:
- participating in an interview for the project
- Dr Riley’s collaboration with the Vagina Museum
Interviews
Interviews are an important part of this study.
Dr Riley would be delighted to hear from you if you are:
- Someone who has experienced a bereavement since the year 2000, who is willing to discuss what place grave goods had (or did not have) in mourning that loss?; And/or
- A death professional working in the UK
What's involved?
Completing a short expression of interest questionnaire
Reading some information about the study, and signing a consent form
A 1:1 interview with Dr Jennie Riley, on the subject of grave goods (Interviews typically last 45 minutes, and take place on Microsoft Teams)
When?
Interviews will take place in late 2024 and throughout 2025.
Please note
You should:
- Be over 18
- Be based in the UK (or talking about a UK-based bereavement, burial or cremation)
- Feel able to reflect on your experiences of bereavement and associated funerals and rituals
I advise that if your bereavement is quite recent, you may wish to think carefully about whether or not now is the right time for you to volunteer. Please feel free to contact Jennie to discuss whether or not you might like to participate - and thank you very much for considering participating.
Get Involved
To express interest in participating in an interview, please complete the short consent and expression of interest form below.
The Participant Information sheet for the interviews is also below.
If you would like more information, please contact jennifer.riley@abdn.ac.uk
Dr Jennie Riley - Research Fellow - Divinity and Religious Studies - University of Aberdeen
Collaboration with the Vagina Museum
Dr Riley is pleased to be collaborating with London’s Vagina Museum, whose ‘Museum of Mankind’ exhibition includes a display of visitor drawings in response to the prompt,
“What would you like to be buried with? How do these things you cherish tell the story of you?”
For more information about how Dr Riley will be using the visitor drawings, please see the following Participant Information sheet for this strand of her study: