Dr Georgina Robinson is a social scientific researcher with expertise in the interdisciplinary field of Death Studies, following degree training in the study of religion. Her research largely employs a mixed-methods approach, drawing principally from sociology, anthropology and STS.

Alongside her broader work surrounding methods of body disposal, crematorium management, death in the digital age, and funeral costs, Robinson’s doctoral research pioneered the first social study of the funerary innovation of alkaline hydrolysis in the UK, with transatlantic fieldwork undertaken in the UK and USA. The research explored how alkaline hydrolysis may be adopted in accordance with the sociocultural and worldview contours of contemporary Britain – ‘Alkaline Hydrolysis: The Future of British Death-Styles’ is available to read via: https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/15085/.

The quality and impact of her work has been recognised by her commissioning to consult the Law Commission of England and Wales and Scottish Government on defining new funerary regulations.

Robinson currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne with the DeathTech Research Team on an ARC Project "Do-It-Yourself Commemoration of the Dead". Between 2023-2025, she worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate at Durham University on the EU CHANSE Project “Digital Death: Transforming History, Rituals and Afterlife”, alongside colleagues at the Universities of Aarhus, Bucharest, and Helsinki.

Alongside her PhD, Robinson holds a MA in Religion and Society and BA in Theology and Religion, both awarded by Durham University. Since 2020, she has worked as a Teaching Assistant, leading seminars and delivering guest lectures for modules including ‘Death, Ritual and Belief’, ‘Worldview, Faith and Identity', ‘Emotion, Identity and Religion’, ‘Sects, Prophets, Gurus’, and ‘Ritual, Symbolism and Belief in the Anthropology of Religion’. In addition to her primary research and teaching work, Robinson is a Board Member of Durham University’s Centre for Death and Life Studies, Council Member of the Association for the Study of Death and Society, Associate Member of the Death and Culture Research Network, and has undertaken research for the voluntary sector.

Georgina Robinson

Postdoctoral Research Fellow - DIY Commemoration of the Dead

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