The zombie has long been an expression of the fear of the other, those at the margins of society, or the fear of the afterlife. Zombies remain as much a fascination in popular media as in art and scholarship, from the ongoing series The Walking Dead to Jean-Michel Basquiat's vodou-inspired zombielike portraits. Using sources from art, anthropology, history, literature and religion, this course will examine the mythologies and iconographies surrounding this ubiquitous figure at the cusp of life and death. In this course, students will approach a series of questions. How have different societies imagined the zombie? How does one become a zombie? Can one escape from that state of (non)existence? Finally, how do these stories and images offer subtle reflections on labor, power, humanity and society writ large?
This is a CWiC critical speaking seminar, open to students from all majors. Course evaluations include weekly Canvas posts, oral presentations and creative, individualized final projects.