A University Has Been Holding Classes With A Professor Who Turns Out To Be Dead
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At one point in school, you might have reached out to your lecturers for advice, only to have your questions ignored. For one student, it was because his mentor was dead.
With the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Aaron Ansuini, a student at Concordia University in Montreal Canada, has been attending online classes conducted by his art history professor, François-Marc Gagnon.
It was only until later on that he realized the lecturer had been dead since 2019.
“I’m learning from lectures recorded before his passing,” Ansuini shared on Twitter.
The student only found out about it when he needed to have a question answered from Prof Gagnon. He then learned through a memoriam he had found online that he wasn’t ever getting a reply.
The university confirmed with Slate that Gagnon, a long-time lecturer, died in 2019 ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lecturer pre-recorded the classes to be used in the university’s e-learning program. They are now deemed as “teaching tools” and are managed by another instructor along with two teaching assistants.
The incident is especially striking during the coronavirus period, when classes are being moved online to accommodate social distancing requirements. However, Slate has brought up another point worth considering: who owns the copyright of educational materials when the originator is long gone?
HI EXCUSE ME, I just found out the the prof for this online course I’m taking *died in 2019* and he’s technically still giving classes since he’s *literally my prof for this course* and I’m learning from lectures recorded before his passing
— Aaron Ansuini 🪴🌱✨ (@AaronLinguini) January 20, 2021
..........it’s a great class but WHAT
I mean, I guess I technically read texts written by people who’ve passed all the time, but it’s the fact that I looked up his email to send him a question and PULLED UP HIS MEMORIAM INSTEAD that just THREW ME OFF A LITTLE
— Aaron Ansuini 🪴🌱✨ (@AaronLinguini) January 20, 2021
[via Futurism and Slate, cover image via Shutterstock]
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