The eight-week massive open online course will explore a broad range of scholarly topics through the lens of a hypothetical zombie apocalypse.
- Sep 5, 2013
AceShowbiz - "The Walking Dead" inspires a free, online college course at the University of California, Irvine. AMC teams up with Instructure and the university to offer the massive open online course (MOOC) titled "Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC's 'The Walking Dead' ".
To run for eight weeks, the MOOC will explore a broad range of scholarly topics through the lens of a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. The first class is scheduled for Monday, October 14, the day after the "Walking Dead" season 4 premiere on AMC. The course will run for eight consecutive Mondays through December 2.
"Fans of the show know that 'The Walking Dead' is about more than zombies; it's about survival, leadership and adapting to situations that are perilous and uncertain," says Theresa Beyer, vice president of promotions and activation at AMC. "There is clearly a growing appetite for engagement with 'The Walking Dead', and we hope this online course will drive a deep, sustained connection with the show during its upcoming fourth season and offer a legitimate educational experience that can be applied even more broadly."
The course will be taught by a multidisciplinary team of UC Irvine faculty who were selected based on experience in teaching MOOCs, history of using pop culture in the classroom, and strong curricular alignment with case studies from the TV series. They are Zuzana Bic, majoring in public health; Joanne Christopherson, social sciences; Michael Dennin physics; and Sarah Eichhorn, mathematics.
Prospective students can enroll by visiting www.canvas.net/TWD.
On the same day the "Walking Dead" course was announced, AMC debuted a new poster for the upcoming season 4. It sees Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes standing near the prison's tattered fence. Whether someone is breaking into the prison or a survivor busts out of the place is not clear, but the prison will soon no longer be a safe place for them.
