Staff profile

Dr Georgina Robinson (AFHEA) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Theology and Religion and Centre for Death-Life Studies at Durham University, with research interests primarily grounded in the interdisciplinary field of death studies. Georgina completed her PhD at Durham University in early 2023, with a thesis entitled ‘Alkaline Hydrolysis: The Future of British Death-Styles’. The research, which explores how alkaline hydrolysis may be adopted in accordance with the sociocultural and worldview contours of contemporary Britain, is the first study of the funerary innovation in the United Kingdom and involved transatlantic fieldwork in the UK and USA. Following the completion of her PhD, Georgina was appointed as Postdoctoral Research Associate on a large European Digital Death Project, working alongside academics at the Universities of Durham, Helsinki, Aarhus, and Bucharest. Georgina has presented her work internationally in academic, funerary, and public settings.

Georgina’s academic career began and continues here in Durham in the Department of Theology and Religion, with her interest in death studies beginning to blossom during her undergraduate degree. Alongside her PhD, Georgina holds a MA in Religion and Society and BA in Theology and Religion, both awarded by Durham University. Since 2020, Georgina has worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Theology and Religion, leading seminars and delivering guest lectures for modules including ‘Death, Ritual and Belief’, ‘Worldview, Faith and Identity', ‘Emotion, Identity and Religion’, and ‘Sects, Prophets, Gurus’. In addition to her research and teaching work, Georgina is a Board Member of Durham University’s Centre for Death-Life Studies and Council Member of the Association for the Study of Death and Society.

Chapter in book

• Robinson, G. M. (2023). Alkaline Hydrolysis in the United Kingdom. In R. McManus (Ed.), The Sustainable Dead: Searching for the Intolerable (76-92). Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Conference Paper

• Robinson, G. M. (2022, December). Sustainable Deathstyles: Alkaline Hydrolysis in the United Kingdom. Presented at Redesigning Deathcare, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Robinson, G. M. (2021, December). Resomation: the UK's Fourth Funerary Option?. Presented at The 15th International Conference on the Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal: Diversity and Decolonisation, Manchester, England

Journal Article

• Robinson, G. M. (2021). Dying to Go Green: The Introduction of Resomation in the United Kingdom. Religions, 12(2), Article 97. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12020097
• Robinson, G. (2020). The Disposal of the Body: Environmental Concerns

Report

• Davies, D., & Robinson, G. (2024). British Crematorium Managers & COVID-19. The Cremation Society