Thinking Through Zombies

Course description

This course explores how humans explore the meaning of the undead. The course begins with asking what zombies’ popularity reflects about our culture and civilization. Readings, films and discussions will focus on critical evaluation and reflection about the zombie trope that include lessons about racism, slavery, anxiety about the body, cannibalism, genocide, panic and plague, gender, war and social-economic structures. Students will have the opportunity to explore in depth contemporary and historical representations of zombies, and to develop a conclusion about the significance of those representations in the search for meaning.WARNING: The very subject of this course means that we will often be studying graphically violent material and content that some would consider violent, gory, disgusting, and otherwise disturbing. Furthermore, indelicate language and explicit sexual content may creep into some of the creative works we study.

Course details