Zombiology: What the Walking Dead Can Teach Us About Real Humans

Catalog description

Zombie memes have become very popular in culture and media over the past several years. Many aspects of modern zombie lore, as represented in books, movies, and television programs such as The Walking Dead, are germane to understanding important issues in current affairs, science, and other topics of anthropological interest. In this class, we will use scenes from zombie media as prisms through which to examine topics such as the spread of infectious disease in our globalized and densely populated world, predation on humans, forensic analysis of trace evidence like tooth and cut marks, the collapse of civilizations, human behavior in small band societies, violent conflict, etc.