• "[Genetically Modified Organisms: A Scientific-Political Dialogue on a Meaningless Meme] is an excellent book presenting a very strong case for abandoning the acronym GMO. It will be extremely helpful to scholars and educators in developing countries who need to persuade their populace and politicians to adopt modern methods to reap the benefits of more nutritious foods and greatly improved yields."

    - Sir Richard J. Roberts, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology

Dying and Death Studies

Death is an event, Dying is a process. Death is a universal event which always invites action, reflection and analysis par excellence, through the many mutations it produces at the personal and societal level. But, Death is also a particular subject, often wrongfully given a secondary place among the scientific research interests. In the last few years we have noticed an increasing interest in the academic and non-academic world on the subject of Death. This is a clear indication of what has been called “the revival of Death”. But Death as an event remains the same grim reality which has always placed humans at the forefront of the unknown.

For this reason in particular, Death cannot be considered the prerogative of just one science, although some may take a special interest in the topic. We cannot describe, understand, explain and come up with the “solutions” to the reality of Death without the collaboration of scholars of History, Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Theology and Literature; because Death is one of the foundations of all cultures. Thus, the Dying and Death Studies series published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing is based on the idea of interdisciplinary and open dialogue between researchers coming from various academic communities.

The Dying and Death Studies series offers the opportunity to publish relevant research on topics such as:

1. The History and Anthropology of Dying and Death,

2. Culture and Death,

3. Bioethics (e.g. Euthanasia),

4. The Art and Architecture of Death,

5. Economics of Death,

6. Religion and the Meaning of Death

7. …

Monographs and Edited Volumes submitted to the Series will be reviewed by the Series Editor and one or more of the following peer-reviewers:

Prof. Hilary J. Grainger - University of the Arts, UK

Dr. Ilona Pajari (Kemppainen) - University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Prof. Dejan Donev - University "St.s Cyril and Methodius", Macedonia.

Dr. Helen Frisby - University of the West of England, UK

Dr. Aleksandra Pavicevic - The Institute of Ethnography SASA, Serbia

Prof. Marina Sozzi - University of Turin, Italy; and Société de Thanatologie (Paris), Member of the International Scientific Board (France)

Dr. Gabriel Barbulet - “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, Romania

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Marius Rotar (born 1974) is a Researcher at “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia, Romania, with a PhD in History. His PhD thesis was dedicated to Death and Dying in Nineteenth Century Transylvania, and is the first PhD thesis within Romanian historiography to be focused on such a topic. He is Chairman of Amurg, the Romanian Cremation Association, and in 2008 he organized in Alba Iulia the only conference dedicated to dying and death issues in Central and Eastern Europe (Dying and Death in 18th-21st century Europe). The sixth edition of this conference will take place in September 2013. This conference aims to be a scientific bridge between Death scholars from Eastern and Western Europe.

Since 2007 Dr. Rotar has been carrying out systematic research on the topic of cremation in Romania. He has published over 40 studies in Romania and abroad, focused on Death Studies. For instance he contributed a chapter on Dying, Death and Bereavement in modern Romania, published in Death and Bereavement Around the World, edited by John D. Morgan, Pittu Laugani Stephan Palmer vol 5: Reflective Essays, New York, Baywood Publication, 2009. He has also published articles in Mortality, the prestigious journal of European death studies: (Mask of the Red Death: The Politics of Evil Cremation in December 1989 in Romania, Mortality, 15, 1, 2010, p.1-17; and “Death inspectors or the 'professionals' of death during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Transylvania”, Mortality, 17, 3, 2012, p.240-255).

Dr. Rotar is the author of three books:

Marius Rotar, History of Modern Cremation in Romania, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Marius Rotar, Moartea in Transilvania in secolul al XIX-lea (Death in Transylvania in the nineteenth century), two volumes, Cluj Napoca: Accent, 2006-2007.

Marius Rotar, Eternitate prin Cenusa. O istorie a crematoriilor si incinerarilor umane in Romania secolelor 19-21 (A History of Cremation in 19th-21st Century Romania), Iasi: Institutul European, 2011.

He has also co-edited the volumes entitled Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe and Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe: Volume 2 (Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011).

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Death Representations in Literature: Forms and Theories

Death Representations in Literature

Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe: Volume 2

Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe

Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe

Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe