‘Curious Conversations’ podcast: Shaily Patel talks about the cultural significance of ghosts

Shaily Patel joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about a new course she’s teaching that explores hauntology, its connection to ghost stories, and the cultural significance of these narratives. Patel explained the role of ghosts as cultural metaphors and how ghost stories serve as a way of making meaning out of past traumas. She also shared the significance of ghost stories in Appalachia and the importance of their role in how people make meaning of the human experience.

“Curious Conversations” is available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

Takeaways

Ghosts can serve as cultural metaphors for unresolved issues, and ghost stories often demand justice for past traumas.

Ghost stories can help us better understand societal values and fears.

Studying the supernatural can provide opportunities to explore individual and collective meaning-making, which can create empathy and expand intercultural understandings.

About Patel

Patel is an assistant professor of early Christianity in the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech. Her research explores the ways in which so-called magic was used to advance a number of theological ends in early Christian texts, and she teaches courses in New Testament, Christian apocryphal texts, orthodoxy and heresy, and demonology and exorcism.

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About the podcast

"Curious Conversations" is a series of free-flowing conversations with Virginia Tech researchers that take place at the intersection of world-class research and everyday life. Produced and hosted by Travis Williams, assistant director of marketing and communications for the Office of Research and Innovation, university researchers share their expertise and motivations as well as the practical applications of their work in a format that more closely resembles chats at a cookout than classroom lectures. New episodes are shared each Tuesday.