Not ready for the Zombies? Take a course!

Living the Simple Life

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I love it!

New zombie course helps students learn about survival behavior

"Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse Catastrophes and Human Behavior" will be a new kind of online course offered by the School of Social Work this summer.
EAST LANSING, Mich. Coming soon, zombies will be invading Michigan State University.

The School of Social Work is offering a one-of-a-kind online course called "Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse Catastrophes and Human Behavior" that will do a lot more than teach students how to fend off the undead.

Starting May 14 the first session of the summer 2012 semester students enrolled in the seven-week course will learn how human behavior and nature change after catastrophic incidences from the historical to the hypothetical through a blend of traditional coursework, online forums and a catastrophic event simulation, which will be in the form of a theoretical zombie pandemic.

Aspects of anthropology, sociology and geology, among other disciplines, will be woven into the two-credit course, which will be scored on a traditional 4.0 scale.

"We are using the idea of a zombie apocalypse to attract attention to the important research and science on the topic of 'Catastrophes and Human Behavior,'" said Glenn Stutzky, social work instructor and creator of the course. "Students will learn about the nature, scope and impact of catastrophic events on individuals, families, societies, civilizations and the Earth itself."

During the simulation, which is the focus of the first week of class, students will be placed in survivor groups and tasked to work with each other to develop ways to survive the zombie pandemic. As the course continues, so will the simulation, but students also will learn about catastrophes like the Black Death and meteor strikes, and the impact these events had on the planet. During the final days of the course, students in their survivor groups will use what they learned and will face the conclusion of the simulation event.

"Though the topic is serious and worthy of academic study, the challenges presented in surviving a hypothetical zombie pandemic have real-world applications," Stutzky said. "After all, zombies make everything more interesting."

Stutzky and a team from Virtual University Design and Technology are using social media to promote the course, including the use of a YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter.

The course is part of a new venture called Summer Online Electives Initiative in Social Work. It is made up of nine courses meant to appeal to a broader pool of students, as well as provide more accessibility to social work courses for both current MSU students, guest students from other universities and members of the general public.
 

rhoda_bruce

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When I'm stocking up, for what may and will come (in whatever form), I think of zombies. I know a few. I wonder how I will handle them, if needed, on my end.
Its probably a good thing students learning about them. It would be nice if the general public could have a crash course on PBS. I've had lots of people tell me if things get bad, they will just come visit me.....thats scary.
 

bittibuddha

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This is awesome. I often have to explain that when I say I am prepping for the Zombie Invasion, "Zombie" is just a code word for any sort of social disruption that would alter how we live, whether that's natural disaster, political unrest, pandemic or anything else. It's a blanket term that I use to tag any activity I pursue to be more self-reliant and less dependent on external resources. I would love to take this class.

Karen
 

lipoptena

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There are a handfull zombie survival courses here in Sweden as well....
 

hqueen13

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I think it is quite fascinating (and frightening) what happens to human nature when things fall apart. People do things that they probably would never dream of doing otherwise, in the name of survival (whether that is real or perceived). Look at what happened after Katrina destroyed New Orleans. I think that is probably one of the more 'real world' situations that we have seen recently of what happens to 'human nature' when SHTF.

Just another reason I want to be FAARRRRRR away from many other folks, and among a community that is ready used to banding together to handle daily life rather than ignoring the next guy over and muttering 'idiot' under their breath when they don't do /insert any action here/ quite to their liking...
 

Mattemma

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I like watching the walking dead show,and tried to get my anti-zombie friend to watch it.Like this course(i SUPPOSE) it shows you the behavior of people in a pinch. Sadly people will sometimes kill good people in order to survive.Some people seem to thrive in this type of environment where they have ultimate control over those who are defenseless.Women and children are especially at risk,and their men will be forced to watch the horror inflicted upon them.I am not a gun person,but darn it if that isn't a good option when hiding has failed.

To me it seems like there is this very thin veil of self control over all of us,but once TSHTF it is every person for themself.Now I would never kill another for their things,but I would probalby have to turn away people begging for food. I could not help everyone at the expense of my own family.Sometimes I look around my home and wonder if this was all we had for who knows how long.....could we survive? We probably could if we did not have to worry about neighbors raiding our home,and they would if they smelled some food cooking!
 

tdbarani

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This is awesome! My husband always jokes about the zombie apocalypse and makes sure we have plenty of guns and ammo at all times! I can't believe it's a college course. Zombies really are hot right now!

Tammy
 

Candy

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This is kinda scary.
Could you, would you shoot someone if they were hungry?
 

elwood

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Candy said:
This is kinda scary.
Could you, would you shoot someone if they were hungry?
That is an interesting question that is hard to answer. First unless you have taken a life no one knows if they can. If someone is asking for food then I would hope and think that shooting them would never ever be an option. If they are willing to harm me and my family to steal it then that option is available. The hardest part for me would be tellng someone who asked that I am sorry I don't have enough to share. I hope that neither ever happens....
 

Old Sew'n'Sew

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I ran across this same info a while back but I don't remember where. It is interesting that it is sort of going main stream now with an academic approach. Hmmm.....I guess thats so that the less religiously inclined can study the TEOTWAWKI situations also. Cool! The word Apocalypse (no zombies added) is from the Bible and means a revealing or Revelation usually a vision. I guess some envision zombies that have been infected with something that makes them crazy.

Here is a you tube video montage set to a Johnny Cash song that will give you goose bumps:

What America will look like after the Collapse: Johnny Cash You Tube
http://youtu.be/IXt1BEargbQ
 
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