The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains
2018 Prize in Humanities
by Thomas W. Laqueur
Publisher: Princeton University Press
View the Press Release
Jury Statement
The dead matter to us; they always have. But, as Thomas W. Laqueur demonstrates in The Work of the Dead, why and how the dead matter has changed over time. Subtitled A Cultural History of Mortal Remains, this fascinating book transcends a focus on any one country, state, people, or historical moment to consider how and why the living have cared for the dead from antiquity through the twentieth century. In clear and graceful prose, Laqueur examines his subject matter through lenses that are at times anthropological, historical, and philosophical in nature. The depth and breadth of his scholarship are particularly noteworthy. A monumental achievement, The Work of the Dead contains a vast reservoir of historical information and insights regarding cultural practices surrounding the treatment of the dead that scholars from many disciplines will draw upon for years to come.
About the Author
Thomas W. Laqueur is Helen Fawcett Professor of History at the University of California Berkeley.
2018 Final Jury
James Chandler
Barbara E. & Richard J. Franke Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Franke Institute for the Humanities
University of Chicago
William Donahue
John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C. Professor of the Humanities
University of Notre Dame
Dennis Doordan
Professor of Architecture and Design and Associate Dean of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work in the School of Architecture
University of Notre Dame
Heather Dubrow
John D. Boyd, S.J. Chair in the Poetic Imagination
Fordham University
Mark Lilla
Professor of Humanities
Columbia University