Zombies on the Syllabus

The zombie is more than just a fictional monster intended to scare us. It is also a vehicle that can help students get a better grasp of their subject material. Take, for instance, the way Dr. Tara Smith, a professor at Kent State University, teaches epidemiology. She makes her lessons on how infectious diseases spread more exciting by illustrating zombie outbreaks in popular culture stories. Smith uses media including "The Walking Dead," "28 Days Later" and "World War Z" as a way to explain infections to her students. Smith is also a member of the “Zombie Research Society,” an organization created by authors, filmmakers and scientists as a means of collaboration between the three fields. “We help writers and filmmakers make their zombie movies as realistic as they can be, considering the circumstances,” she said. “We don’t really research zombies, of course, but we do help people write realistic stories about them.”


Read the original report on Prof. Smith's syllabus at kentwired.com.

Suburbia and the Taboo: "Santa Clara Diet"

Without access to Netflix it is impossible for me to offer any ideas about the new sitcom "Santa Clara Diet," though from a number of online reviews it looks tasty. What I wonder about is... why? Is there a darker, political message beneath this zomcom?

Perhaps it's not too far a speculation that this comedy builds from the idea that a suburban lifestyle--with the struggles that go into achieving and maintaining the big house and keeping the kids in private schools--is nothing short of deadening.

The trailer looks entertainingly fast-paced. (See it embedded in the Esquire review below.) "Santa Clara Diet" may be reaching out to the same audience as "Dexter" and perhaps "Interview with a Vampire" with the notion that killing is acceptable if the ones you kill somehow deserve to die. That's not necessarily an attitude we should be encouraging in our society, though many would disagree with me on that.

Esquire Review