Mourning in African America "No culture bases so much of its identity on the persistent rehearsal of commemorative conduct as does African America," writes Karla FC Holloway in her new book, Passed On: African-American Mourning Practices. The dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, helping to guide planning and faculty development for much of the university, Holloway drew on her own interests in cultural studies and African-American literature for this study of 20th-century African-American funeral practices. She concludes in Passed On that African-Americans are generally more comfortable than other Americans with the concept and physical realities of death, in part because of their history of violent premature death. The Chronicle of Higher Education selected the book for its "Hot Type" column, noting that Holloway's inclusion of her mourning for her own son, who was killed during her work on the book, adds a personal dimension to this fascinating cultural study.