--- title: "A University Is Using a Dead Professor to Teach an Online Class" description: "Aaron Ansuini, a student at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada found out that his art history professor wasn't alive anymore." date: "2021-01-27" modified: "2021-01-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/university-dead-professor-teach-online-class" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "online classes" - "online learning" - "the digest" --- # A University Is Using a Dead Professor to Teach an Online Class ![Aaron Ansuini, a student at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada found out that his art history professor wasn't alive anymore.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Beyond the Grave Aaron Ansuini, a student at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada made a shocking discovery: He found that his art history professor wasn't alive anymore. "HI EXCUSE ME," Ansuini wrote in [a tweet](), "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." "I mean, I guess I technically read texts written by people who’ve passed all the time," he continued, "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." ## Open Casket Concordia University [confirmed to *Slate*]() that professor François-Marc Gagnon, a lecturer in the university's art history department, did indeed pass in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. His lectures, however, live on in Concordia's online course catalog and are used for a dedicated online course. The class is technically being led by a different professor and two teaching assistants, with Gagnon's recordings being used as a "teaching tool," according to *Slate*. Musicians' recordings are frequently released after they die. Social media data often outlives its account holders as well. But the phenomenon is less common in higher education. The incident also sheds light on the difficulties of learning online during COVID — a phenomenon that's upending all sorts of social norms. **READ MORE:** [How a Dead Professor Is Teaching a University Art History Class]() \[S*late*\] **More on online learning:** *[Scientists Predict the Pandemic Will Set Students Back for Years]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()