What does dying with dignity mean in a diverse society with rapidly advancing technology, an aging population, and finite resources? In this fascinating collection, scholars from across the nation illuminate the remarkable changes that have taken place in recent years, are now underway, and loom on the horizon as they lead readers on an exploration of the ways Americans think about and handle dying and death. Volume 1, New Paths of Engagement, addresses changes in the circumstances and expressions of death, dying, and grief in 21st-century America. Volume 2, New Venues in the Search for Dignity and Grace, delves into the challenges inherent in creating a medical and social system that allows for an optimal end-of-life experience for all and proposes ways in which society can be reshaped to move toward that ideal.

Volume 1. New paths of engagement. Introduction : a bird's eye view of the territory / Christina Staudt ; From death denial to death control : the new baby-boomer approach / J. Harold Ellens ; Dying while living : the problem of social death / Donald Joralemon ; The biology of decision : implications of neuroscientific research for end-of-life care / Daniel Liechty and Bruce Hiebert ; Prognosis, costs, and end-of-life care / Daniel Callahan ; Stories of the end : a narrative medicine curriculum to reframe death and dying / Marsha Hurst and Craig Irvine ; What rational philosophy cannot tell us about death in the 21st century / Jerry S. Piven ; Grim discoveries : Agnès Varda's Vagabond (1985) and Karen Moncrieff's The dead girl (2006) / Marcelline Block ; Unveiling the corpse in the 21st century / Kathryn Beattie ; Expansion of new rituals for the dying and bereaved / Sherry R. Schachter and Kristen M. Finneran ; Virtual memorials : bereavement and the Internet / Candi K. Cann ; Strange eternity : virtual memorials, grief, and entertainment / Angela Riechers ; Roadside memorials : a 21st-century development / George E. Dickinson and Heath C. Hoffmann ; Reconfiguring urban spaces of disposal, sanctuary, and remembrance / Karla Maria Rothstein ; Conclusion : additional vistas / Christina Staudt -- Volume 2. New venues in the search for dignity and grace. Introduction : the need for accommodation / Christina Staudt ; The future of death and two challenges that will shape it / James W. Green ; Assisted suicide in the age of AIDS and Alzheimer's / Michael Teitelman ; Dying persons and their families / Margaret Souza ; Decision making at the end of life : from informed consent to family consent / Lawrence A. Frolik ; A changing landscape : evolving ethical duties and obligation of patients, families, and providers / Miriam Piven Cotler ; The Hippocratic and the Veterinary Oaths : medical ethics at the end of life / Sara Waller ; Palliative care and hospice : caring for patients with serious illness / Kerrianne P. Page and Maura L. Del Bene ; The health advocate in end-of-life care / Linda Koebner ; Culturally competent care in an increasingly diverse society / Karen Bullock and Jasmin Volkel ; Attending to the pain of the dying : the nursing home care paradox / Anthony J. Lechich ; The evolving role of hospital chaplains at the end of life / Martha R. Jacobs and Linda S. Golding ; Before their time : the need for communication when they die young / Nathan Ionascu ; Advance directives and hospice care : cost savers at the end / Edward J. Lusk, Nellie Selander, and Michael Halperin ; Conspicuous metabolism : life support and life extension as luxury goods / Kevin T. Keith ; Solidarity, mortality : the tolling bell of civic palliative care / Bruce Jennings ; Conclusion : a letter from a fellow traveler / Christina Staudt.