Registration opens:
September 11th, 2026

Control of the Dead and the Dead with Control

The Social Uses of Spirits in Southern Ghostlore

Learn about southern ghost stories with Kayla Jordan

This talk examines the uses of various southern ghost stories from the early to mid-twentieth century as means of social control through their specific portrayals of death and dying, historical memory, and emotion. As they reflected societies norms about death and dying, they subsequently helped not only continue many historical fallacies but also influenced the actions of the living by giving them ghostly depictions of the consequences of failing to meet societal
expectations. 

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