It doesn’t matter if a ghost is real. But what does matter is the ghost story. Coya Paz, interim dean of The Theatre School at DePaul University, delves into three different categories of ghost stories and why it’s important to listen closely because the dead want just as much from us as we want from them. Coya is an associate professor in DePaul’s Theatre School and the artistic director of Chicago’s historic Free Street Theater. She is also the cofounder of the Proyecto Latina collective, served as the founding coartistic director of Teatro Luna for nine years and coauthored EnsembleMade Chicago: A Guide to Devised Theater. Above all, Coya is deeply committed to creating and supporting artistic spaces that help historically marginalized populations share their stories and personal experiences. Raised in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and the United States, she holds a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern University. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx