University of Saskatchewan teaches using The Walking Dead
By Adam Carlson
The Walking Dead is more than just a great zombie show, as the hit AMC drama is being used as a teaching tool at the University of Saskatchewan.
College life isn’t always what it is made out to be on television. While tv and movies make higher learning seem like a non-stop party, the reality is that it is a lot of learning about subjects that might not be very interesting to most people. Thankfully, there is always The Walking Dead to make things more exciting.
Some fans like to use AMC’s The Walking Dead as an entertaining program to watch on Sunday nights, but the University of Saskatchewan is taking things to a whole new level when it comes to learning more about the most-watched show on television.
According to an article on the CBC News website, the school’s Educational Administration course taught by professors Paul Newton and Dave Burgess has started using the hit apocalyptic drama as a tool for students to learn.
"“Neither of us were really into the zombie genre,” Newton told CBC Radio’s Saskatoon Morning. “We started talking out loud and thinking about what happens if those elements that usually cause resistance in educational change are removed. So, we started thinking about apocalyptic kinds of scenarios, and the zombie apocalypse was really sort of a thought experiment.”"
Using a popular television show to discuss some topics which otherwise might be bland is a fantastic concept, and one that could pay dividends from a teaching standpoint.
"“If we talk about the theory of organization, it’s very dry and hard for students to relate back to their experience. If we can take those concepts, and apply them to looking at something like The Walking Dead, that sort of comes alive for them,” Newton said. “There are lots of things that we can bounce questions off of when we watch episodes and we do character studies. We talk about what are the intergroup dynamics, and how are people wrestling for power, and how do they collaborate in the episodes. And we talk about what that looks like in their own experience as well.”"
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Hopefully, the University of Saskatchewan starts a trend and higher learning institutions continue to develop ways to educate people in ways which are both educational and entertaining. And right now, there isn’t much more entertaining property in the world than AMC’s The Walking Dead.