Join International House and the Center for East Asian Studies as we host the 17th Annual Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture, “Being Dead Otherwise.” The talk will feature Anne Allison, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University. In the face of a high aging population, decline in the rates of marriage and childbirth, and a post-growth economy, sociality is downsizing away from the family to more single lifestyles in Japan. As Japanese increasingly age “without anyone else to depend upon (miyori ga nai),” new commercial and public initiatives are arising to tend to the country’s “family-less dead.” This talk examines what is a surge in “ending activity” (shūkatsu) since the early 2000s of seeking alternatives to the family grave and other others (than kin) to be caregivers of the dead.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Please enter through the door on South Dorchester Avenue.