ASRC 2310 - [Race and the Zombie Apocalypse]

(crosslisted) AMST 2310, ENGL 2931
(GB) (LA-AS)

Fall. Next offered 2016-2017. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

R. Wilson.

This course takes a critical approach to our contemporary understanding of the figure of the zombie and its inextricable link to discourses on race and blackness in the Americas. An introductory grounding in theories of social death will allow us to explore the racial anxiety that gave birth to the genre and trace its development throughout the hemisphere. The course seeks to broaden the genre to include novels that normally would not be considered antecedents and ultimately poses the following questions: What can the figure of the zombie teach us about our evolving relationship to race? What does the recent proliferation of zombie-related television shows, movies, books and video games say about our contemporary racial anxieties?