From the Ground Up: Raising Death Literate Children April 16, 2026 | 6:00 pm -7:30 pm (Arizona Time)
Join us as cultural anthropologist and writer, Anita Hannig, challenges the assumption that sheltering children from death protects them. While we have sanitized death into something that happens elsewhere—in hospitals, nursing homes, funeral parlors—we have inadvertently left children unprepared for one of life’s most universal experiences. As a parent to a death-curious four-year-old who loves visiting cemeteries, Anita argues that speaking thoughtfully with kids about our shared mortality may equip them with the tools and frameworks to navigate life’s unavoidable losses.
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Our Presenter
Anita Hannig, PhD.
Anita Hannig, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist and death educator who spent years researching and writing about end-of-life care in the United States. Her narrative nonfiction book, The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America, brings readers into the lives of ordinary Americans who go to extraordinary lengths to set the terms of their own death. Anita has also written for PBS, Newsweek, The Seattle Times, Cognoscenti, and Undark. She is currently a Global Fellow in End-of-Life Care, a program jointly sponsored by the Death with Dignity National Center and the Completed Life Initiative.
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