Thursday October 30th 2026
There is no charge for this event.
Welcome: 6:30pm Drinks
Speakers: 7pm – 8:30pm
Fear and Folklore: Exploring Our Enduring Fascination With Ghosts, Monsters, and Mortality
From haunted houses to horror films, and folkloric traditions to funerary rites, ghosts and monsters have endured in the human psyche across time and space. They embody our anxieties about death, loss, and our darkest tendencies. This symposium brings together three Georgetown scholars to explore how various cultures have conjured and confronted and enshrined these personifications of our deepest fears.
The panel discussion will include Dr. Amrita Ibrahim, associate teaching professor of anthropology and director of undergraduate studies at Georgetown, on “Ghosts, Spirits, and Anthropology”; Dr. Colva Weissenstein, program manager of American studies and professor of American Horror in the 20th century at Georgetown, on “American Horror in the 20th Century; Dr. Jordan Wilson, postdoctoral fellow at the Earth Commons Institute and bioarchaeologist, on “Death, Burial, and the Vampire”; Dr. Kelly Richmond-Abdou, art historian and museum educator at The Phillips Collection, on “Memento Mori”.
Registration for this event is now open! Please RSVP at the link below.