As a cultural artifact, memorials have been a part of funerary traditions for centuries and have continued to evolve as human culture has changed over time. This collection draws from a diverse, international group of academics to offer an overview of grieving and memorialization ranging from traditional modes of expression to contemporary modes that revolve around the digital world. Our contributors examine issues related to memorialization in an effort to provide a broad overview of contemporary scholarship and provide an introduction to topics relevant to death studies scholars and a general audience as well. 

These papers cover a wide variety of topics from historic to contemporary displays of grief and memorialization, and reflect cultural displays of mourning and commemoration through different forms of media and literature. These papers represent contemporary research in archaeology, history, and sociological approaches to grief that comes from death, illness, and trauma. The papers selected have been broken into three sections to guide the readers through the themes of historical and contemporary grief and commemoration, as well as these themes expressed utilizing different forms of media at different periods in history, both traditional and digital.

This collection is being published with Berghahn Books, with a projected release date of December, 2025.