Lilian Coates M.A.

From October 2023 to June 2026, I worked as a research associate at the Collaborative Research Centre “Human Differentiation”, where I supported the theory project and the centre’s central management team. Prior to that, I worked in the Gender Studies and Sociological Theory unit at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (2015–2020) and at the Research Training Group “Doing Transitions” at Goethe University Frankfurt (2020–2023).

Since 2017, I have been conducting ethnographic research on dying and death in the context of inpatient hospice care as part of my doctoral project. From the CRC’s theoretical perspective, this research raises questions such as which forms of difference become relevant in hospice care, how they are produced and negotiated – for example, when people enter the active dying phase and death is imminent. I am also interested in how more abstract ideals, such as “human dignity,” are expressed through concrete practices, including the preparation of the body for viewing after death.

I have remained in close contact with the CRC beyond my time there and continue to benefit from the interdisciplinary exchange and the diverse perspectives it brings together.