I like it... let's create an online Institute of Dead Studies.
Don't forget to save a subfield for the Differently Living, i.e. zombies and vampires.
The infighting when it comes time to decide whether to hire in zombie studies or vampire studies can be a real pain in the neck/brain. And don't you feel that the very important concerns of spooks, spectres, and spirits deserve to be represented in the curriculum?
I'd also like to propose an umbrella organization of Dead, Dying, and Differently Alive Fields, one that would have a huge January conference in one of those hotels where they recirculate the air until everyone comes down with the flu, with a huge, cryptlike interviewing space strewn with corpses.