AMC Wants to Teach You How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

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With school starting up again, AMC has just announced their upcoming course. Yes, AMC the network, not AMC the college. The Massive Open Online Course (or MOOC) is called "Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC’s The Walking Dead  ." It represents an intersection of AMC, Salt Lake City-based Instructure, and UC Irvine,

AMC will be providing content in the form of its hit show, The Walking Dead, Instructure will provide the platform for the lectures via its Canvas software solution, and UC Irvine will supply the professors. These professors come from a variety of disciplines such as social science, physics, public health, and mathematics. They will teach a multidisplinary course that will follow along with Season 4 of The Walking Dead , with the first class scheduled for October 14 (the day after the season premiere).

Check out the learning topics for the class: 

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—is survival just about being alive?

Social order and structures—from the farm and the prison to Woodbury

Social identity, roles, and stereotyping—as shown through leaders like Rick and the Governor

The role of public health in society—from the CDC to local community organizations

The spread of infectious disease and population modeling—swarm!

The role of energy and momentum in damage control—how can you best protect yourself?

Nutrition in a post-apocalyptic world—are squirrels really good for you?

Managing stress in disaster situations—what’s the long-term effect of always sleeping with one eye open?

How cool is this? This might just be a class I'll have to sign up for. After all, education is always more effective when students can see ready applications for what they're learning. And what's more applicable than learning how to survive in a zombie-ridden wasteland?

To learn more about the course and sign up, check out Canvas's site here.