Fans who just can't get enough of The Walking Dead can add a few more hours of zombie action to their lives every week, starting the day after after the TV show's fourth season premieres Oct. 13. AMC has teamed up with the University of California at Irvine to set up a free, eight-week massive online open course, or MOOC,  based on the show.

The course, called “Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC’s The Walking Dead uses a hypothetical zombie apocalypse to teach myriad subjects including math, social science, public health, physics and astronomy. The course will be taught by four UC Irvine faculty members.

The course description lists these topics:

  • Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—is survival just about being alive?
  • Social order and structures—from the farm and the prison to Woodbury
  • Social identity, roles, and stereotyping—as shown through leaders like Rick and the Governor
  • The role of public health in society—from the CDC to local community organizations
  • The spread of infectious disease and population modeling—swarm!
  • The role of energy and momentum in damage control—how can you best protect yourself?
  • Nutrition in a post-apocalyptic world—are squirrels really good for you?
  • Managing stress in disaster situations—what’s the long-term effect of always sleeping with one eye open?

Seems like that's certainly all information Rick and the gang could've used.

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