Courses

ANTH209 The Anthropology of Sex. (Coordintor) (Summer School)
ANTH210 Translating Culture: Reading Ethnographic Texts
ANTH320 Comtemporary Ethnographic Research
ANTH325 Rites of Passage: Death, Grief and Ritual
ANTH424 The Anthropology of Evil

Projects

Dr Schafer's current research projects explore contemporary mortuary practices, memory, and conflict:

• The New Zealand Funeral Study (with Dr Ruth McManus, Canterbury University)
• Debates in Thanatology (with Prof. Paul Voninski, SUNY Oswego, New York)
• Attitudes to Death and Wellbeing (with Dr Shyamala Rada-Naja and Sheryll Malthus, IPRU, University of Otago)

Dr Schafer is the editor of Sites: a journal of social anthropology and cultural studies.
Journal Website: http://sites.otago.ac.nz

He is also the co-organiser of the Death Down Under conference (University of Otago, Dunedin, 28-29 June 2012) Conference website: http://deathdownunder2012.kahunaeducation.com/

Selected Publications

Schafer, C. T. (2011) Celebrant ceremonies: Life-centred funerals in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Journal of Ritual Studies 25 (1): 1-13.

Hashim, R., Fitzgerald R.P., Schafer C. T., Thomson, W. Murray (2010) Mother's understanding of dental-caries-related feeding practices and childrens' use of dental care in Ajman. Social Science and Dentistry 1 (2): 97-107.

McManus, R. and Schafer, C. (2009) Final Arrangements: Attitudes to funeral costs in New Zealand. BRCSS Research Report.

Fuchs, M., McAllister, P., and Schafer, C. (2009) Bracketing Belief: Exploring Notional Worlds. Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies 6 (1).

Schafer, C. T. (2007) Dead serious: funeral directing in New Zealand. Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies 4, No 1: 95-121.

Schafer, C. (2007). Post-mortem personalisation: pastoral power and the New Zealand funeral director. Mortality 12 (1): 4-21.