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University Offers Class In Zombie Studies 118

Posted by samzenpus
from the brains-for-brains dept.
Young people at The University of Baltimore will be able to study the zombie condition thanks to the newly available English 333. Students in the class will watch 16 classic zombie films and read zombie comics. Instead of writing a final research paper they may write a script or draw storyboards for their own zombie movie. Unfortunately the class doesn't seems to cover brain appreciation.

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University Offers Class In Zombie Studies

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  • by Tablizer (95088) on Wednesday September 08 2010, @01:47PM (#33510618) Homepage Journal

    They should combine it with Modern Political Studies.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 09 2010, @04:09AM (#33518088)

    That's what the US higher education is turning into. Turn out as many diplomas for a price. We can have any crazy ole class that will get idiots to pay tuition for. Then we give everyone a diploma and leave em in debt. So that they can join the real world and realize that everyone else has one, and it only entitles you to work at mcdonalds.

  • by petronivs (633683) on Thursday September 09 2010, @10:07AM (#33521020) Journal
    Does anyone else find it odd that this is a Junior-level college course in English, and the course is limited to zombie movies and comic books? If you want to study zombie movies, go to film studies. I can accept using zombie comic books, but few, if any, zombie comic books I've seen would qualify as quality literature. (Yes, some comic books do qualify as quality literature, just not those.) The real travesty for these students is that this course could actually be leveraging an interest in zombies to actually study good literature, like World War Z, the Zombie Survival Guide, the zombie Jane Austen books, and various fiction books from different eras in the evolution of the modern zombie. (The history of the zombie concept is quite the story.) Instead, they get to watch movies and read comic books.
  • by MikeRT (947531) on Thursday September 09 2010, @10:59AM (#33521990) Homepage

    Besides, who said "education" had to be practical? College is the one time in your life when you get to learn about things that genuinely interest you. Why not take advantage of it?

    Because there are real consequences to going $50k in debt to get an English or Art History degree. People graduating with six figure student loan debts from programs that don't reliably lead to six figure jobs have gotten pretty common.

    You know what that level of debt for a degree that provides no discernible practical job skills does to a typical person? It reduces their options on career choice, relationships and ability to save and buy property.

    Yeah, you're now an "interesting person" because you know all about some obscure figures in the humanities. A typical person going that route will also not be able to save for a down payment on a house or condo, have to find a significant other willing to put up with and be able to support a serious debt load and will likely still go to a shitty job at that the end of the day.

    But oh yeah, they were "taught how to think" or they can pursue a degree in law, even as that means more student loan debt for a degree in a field that has a serious labor glut.

    You're absolutely right. People should not go to college specifically to learn how to do something that will enable their future. That's for those filthy stinking tradesmen who make serious money getting dirty working with their hands.

    BTW, this also presumes that you are in the lucky 50% who does graduate and can find a good job. God help the help people who go into student loan debt and then cannot graduate for whatever reason. Hopefully their memories of lectures on medieval French poetry will be a consolation when they make their payments.

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