Abstract

The paper will present a case for using the zombie as an analytical tool for reflecting upon media & film education within English higher education. Using examples from contemporary zombie films and ideas associated with zombiedom the paper will suggest that far from being homogeneous, film representations of the zombie and zombiedom alert our attention to a wide range of possibilities that can productively be employed as critical lens through which to examine contemporary higher education. The paper will develop its argument based upon four overlapping strands. First, that the current global climate of uncertainty and crisis has given rise to a renewed impetus and verve within apocalyptic zombie narratives. Whilst falling short of an apocalyptic event the current challenges facing media education within English higher education can be understood as an allegorical manifestation of the undermining and collapse of social institutions found within contemporary zombie narratives. Second, the key to understanding the relationship between tutors and students, from the tutors perspective, is to appreciate the interplay between survivors losses and their dependency upon their views of zombies. Third, that humanising and sympathetic representations of the zombie can inform our understanding of students, by foregrounding their dynamism, motivations and skills, and through an emphasis upon student-centred approaches to learning and teaching. Fourth, higher education would befit from stronger collaborative partnerships in learning and teaching between students and tutors to not only maximise their collective strengths but to also offer a unified approach to the zombifying challenges facing the subject.