Join Us for Book Club on Thursdays this April

School Updates
Written By Cole Imperi

All current and former students are invited to join our low-energy book club. We’ll convene in our Slack community the following dates and times:

  • Thursday, April 6: 1pm PT/4pm Eastern | Read Part I and II

  • Thursday, April 13: 1pm PT/4pm ET | Read Part III

  • Thursday, April 20: 1pm PT/4pm ET | Read Part IV

  • Thursday, April 27: 1pm PT/4pm ET | Read Part V

    We’ll meet to discuss in the #book-club channel, and the conversation will be facilitated by Cole Imperi.

    (All students are invited to join our community on Slack, the link is within your courses. Otherwise please email hello@americanthanatology.com with the course you took and when, and we’ll zip an invite link right over to you.)

April’s Book Selection

This April, we’ll read Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff Ph.D.

Please see above for which parts of the book to read by which Thursday.

This book was chosen for a few reasons.

  • Kristin Neff, Ph.D. is a pioneer in the study of self-compassion, being the first one to operationally define and measure the construct almost twenty years ago.

  • Throughout the School of American Thanatology’s book club, participants can engage in a low-energy guided discussion, based on the concepts and strategies presented in the book. They can also share their own experiences and insights, providing support and encouragement to one another in their journeys toward greater self-compassion.

 

About Book Club

The theme that underpins each book selection is to explore how the title relates to death, dying, grief and loss—personally, professionally, globally and otherwise.

This is why you’ll see some titles which are not explicitly connected to these themes.

This is an interdisciplinary book club, meaning we seek to look outward and pull inward.

 

About the Book Club Symbol — A Book With Eyes?

Thanatology Book Club

This symbol was originally depicted before the year 1,000 AD believe it or not. The book with eyes perched atop is how St. Odilia is often depicted. St. Odilia (belonging to a Catholic Christian tradition) lived a wild life. She was rebellious, died and came back to life multiple times, had immediate family murdered, and lost her vision and had it restored. She is also associated with Larkspur, which is a thanabotanical plant.

The spirit of St. Odile (not the religious connection) is held within the symbol. The eyes atop the book reminds us to see, observe and witness.

St. Odile is the patron saint of Alsace (northeastern France) and those dealing with eye-related issues like blindness.

Cole Imperi

Cole Imperi is a triple-certified thanatologist, a two-time TedX speaker, and one of America’s experts on death, dying and grief. She is best known for her work pioneering the fields of Thanabotany and Deathwork (which includes Death Companioning) and through her development of Shadowloss, Shadowlight and Dremains. Cole is the founder of the School of American Thanatology, which has students from 20 countries across 12 timezones. Cole has worked as a chaplain-thanatologist in a jail, mortuary college professor, crematory operator, hospice volunteer, grief support group leader for children as young as 3 to adults, and served on the board of a green burial startup. Cole served as the first female Board President of the 178-year-old Historic Linden Grove Cemetery & Arboretum in Covington, Kentucky, works with death-related businesses through her consulting firm, Doth, and publishes death and loss-related content. Her forthcoming book, A Guide to Your Grief, will be published by Kids Can Press in 2024.

https://coleimperi.com
Previous

ThanaBee • Issue 017 • March 2023
Next

ThanaBee • Issue 016 • January 2023