美国巴尔的摩大学传播设计学院今年新开了一门研究僵尸的课程，选择这门课的学生将会在老师的带领下欣赏经典的僵尸电影和漫画，在课程结束时无需撰写论文，而要交出一份自己理想中的恐怖电影台词或者绘本。传播设计学院的院长表示，开设这样一门有趣而又疯狂的课程是为了满足流行文化中新兴的一个小群体的需求，同时也是为研究其他更多的课题开启了另一扇门。他指出，学生在研究僵尸电影的同时也能了解文学和大众传媒的运行方式。

　　Zombie studies is now on the curriculum at the University of Baltimore。

　　It is a class to die for - Zombie studies is now on the curriculum at the University of Baltimore。

　　The new course, which promises to "get you ready for a zombie apocalypse", invites students to devour classic zombie films and comics。

　　Instead of essays, they write horror scripts or draw storyboards for their ideal monster movie。

　　The minor class, titled English 333, has already been dubbed "Zombie 101" by the Baltimore Sun newspaper。

　　It was introduced to meet a demand for "interesting, off-the-wall" courses for a new minor in pop culture, according to Jonathan Shorr, chairman of the university's school of communications design。

　　"It's a back door into a lot of subjects," he told the Baltimore Sun。

　　"They think they're taking this wacko zombie course, and they are. But on the way, they learn how literature and mass media work, and how they come to reflect our times."

　　However, horror fans will be pleased to find that the class also explores two less academic themes: "blood and guts"。

　　"We're going to be dealing with some of the truly disgusting stuff that's been done in horror over the years," said Arnold Blumberg, author of Zombiemania, who teaches the course。

　　"I want to reinforce the degree to which this material can be found offensive by a lot of people。

　　"This is not fluffy bunny cartoon stuff. Bunnies might show up, but they'd probably be torn to pieces."