PHILADELPHIA — Justin McDaniel, a professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, teaches a popular course called "Gods, Ghosts and Monsters," a comparative religion course about death and the afterlife. He's long been fascinated with ghost stories — and why they fascinate us.
During the pandemic, he said, his class took on a deeper meaning for his students, who come from a number of different academic backgrounds, from history majors to nursing students.
As millions across the country confronted death up-close, he said, learning about funerary rites and afterlife beliefs helped his students connect, cope, and understand what they were going through.
