Profs & Pints DC: The Everyday Supernatural

Profs and Pints DC presents: “The Everyday Supernatural,” a discussion of how folklorists and anthropologists view our belief in uneasily explained beings, forces, and experiences, with Benjamin Gatling, folklorist, scholar of belief and everyday religion, and associate professor of English at George Mason University.

Three out of four Americans believe in some aspect of the supernatural such as astrology, telepathy, clairvoyance, or communication with the dead. About half attest to having personally had a mystical experience.

The supernatural isn’t something strange or extraordinary. It’s part of the everyday lives of most people around the world, and it’s fundamental to virtually all cultural traditions.

Why do people believe in the supernatural? Where do these beliefs come from and what purposes do they serve?

Come to DC’s Penn Social to hear such questions tackled by Benjamin Gatling, who teaches a course on folklore and the supernatural, studies various cultures’ oral traditions, and…