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Richard Parent
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Syllabus

English 168-B
Spring 2013
T/R 11:30am-12:45pm
Hills 234
http://uvmzombies.blogspot.com/		 Dr. Richard Parent Office: 429 Old Mill
REParent at uvm dotedu
Office Hrs: T/R 1:30-3:30pm
And by arrangement

Z is for ZOMBIES


REQUIRED TEXTS:


OVERVIEW -- THE BIG QUESTIONS:

The zombies aren't coming. They're already here. They swarm through our books, movies, TV shows, games, ads, and even our music videos. If this were a 1950s sci-fi movie, someone would ask in a panicked, shrill voice: "What are they? What do they want? How can we defeat them?"
What are they? Because we don't live in sci-fi (or horror) movies, we see zombies for what they are: the product of human imagination. We created them and we continue to populate our narratives with them. Why? What do they do for our stories? What do they do to our stories?
What do they want? (Besides brains, or sometimes intestines, I mean.) As narrative constructs, they express needs and wants -- our needs and wants as storytelling beings. So, why do we seem to need them, and need to avoid or destroy them? Why do we do this over and over and over again?
How can we defeat them? The question of whether we ever can defeat the walking dead is open to interpretation and debate. Some stories argue or imply that we can, others that there is, ultimately, no hope. As narrative constructs, zombies are also cultural constructs, which means that our culture has been (fatally? undeadly?) infected with zombiism. Besides "Cardio" and "Check the back seat," what are our best strategies for understanding (and surviving, of course) this cultural epidemic?

THE CLASS COMMUNITY:

As you've probably noticed, this is a big class. I refuse to make it a lecture class. That means that you'll be expected to come to class and to participate. To help this, we'll divide the class into four communities struggling to survive in our post-zombie world. You and your classmates will be responsible for certain roles within each community. You will choose which role you want to fill as a member of one of the following groups: the ruling council, the defense force, the citizenry (scientists, family-members, etc.), and, of course, the zombies. Some days we'll spend time talking in our communities, and other times we'll talk in the small groups of our roles. After midterm, I'll give you the opportunity to change community and/or role. Take your community and your role seriously -- they will help us to get deeper into the material, and they'll make the class much more interesting.

PROJECTS:

Zomblogging: You'll be posting on our course blog substantive responses to the readings and films -- from the perspective of your community and role -- three times this semester. That's roughly one post every four weeks, so I'll expect your posts to really engage with the course material. To make this more of a conversation and less of a short-paper, everyone in the class will be expected to post a comment on at least one classmate's post each week. I'll evaluate your posts on the following scale:
  • 4/A Exceptional. The blog post is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations and analysis. The post offers new insight into, or probing questions of, the material and thus reflects in-depth engagement with the material.
  • 3/B Satisfactory. The blog post is reasonably focused, and explanations and analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The post reflects moderate engagement with the material.
  • 2/C Underdeveloped. The blog post is mostly description or summary, without analysis or consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The post reflects passing engagement with the material.
  • 1/D Limited. The blog post is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of serious engagement with the material.
  • 0/F No Credit. The blog post is missing or doesn't engage with the material or community/role.
Midterm Exam: covering material discussed in the first half of the semester. There should be no surprises here.
Final Project: your opportunity to do something awesome with the course material and/or the larger universe of zombie lore, narrative, and theory. Your project must display some form of learning and insight into zombies, zombie narratives, and/or our zombified culture. You may work individually or in groups on this, and I highly recommend that you discuss your ideas for your final project with me no later than April 4th. You will present your projects to the class during the final three class meetings.

GRADING:

  • Zomblogging: 30%
  • Midterm Exam: 30%
  • Final Project: 30%
  • Class Participation: 10%
Option: if you'd like to reduce these percentages, I'm willing to add short reading quizzes (10 or so throughout the semester) that would count for 15% of your final grade, lowering the 30%s to 25% each. We'll decide as a class whether that's something we want to do.
Not optional: in the unlikely event of a water landing that the majority of your classmates appears not to have prepared for a particular class meeting, I will institute regular reading quizzes until such time as the class can convince me that you are capable of performing upper-division work.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you have (or suspect that you may have) a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, I encourage you to contact both myself and UVM’s Office of Accommodation, Consultation, Collaboration & Educational Support Services (ACCESS), A-170 Living & Learning Center, 656-7753 (www.uvm.edu/~access) as early as possible in the term. The ACCESS Office will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodation for this course.