This is some fun news. Professor Sean Hoade teaches a course at the University of Alabama called Special Topics in Literature: Zombies! The Living Dead in Literature, Film, and Culture and is using the SLG graphic novel Dead Eyes Open by Matthew Shepherd and Roy Boney, Jr. as one of his texts.

Man, the Special Topics in Literature seminars offered when I was in grad school were stuff like "Literature of the Sea," which is fine, but it's just not zombies, you know? Prof. Hoade explains that the U of Alabama is offering this class in their "interim" semester, when they test out experimental courses. This course includes a zombie walk to raise money for a food bank, feasts of "human-flavored tofu," and, of course, a visit to the graveyard.

Here's more from the course description from the U of Alabama English Department website:

When real violence and danger abound, why do the "living dead" -- a thoroughly oxymoronic and impossible threat -- exert such a grip on the imagination? This course will explore that question by hunting for zombies in ancient, "classic," and contemporary literature.... We'll also look at how zombie stories treat the divides between sacred and profane, master and slave, and male and female.... We'll do everything we can to examine and explore the revenant's role in our millenial, fin-de-siecle psychology of fear.

Dan and I both think this is really cool. Props to Prof. Hoade for keeping his English department vibrant and for engaging the subject of zombies in academia. They're part of the late 20th century zeitgeist and deserve it!