Although most of the world enjoys zombie experiences like ‘The Walking Dead’, the fact is that however cool it looks on the show, none of us would actually ever want to be the victims of a zombie apocalypse and in any case, I’m sure most of us think of it as an impossibility anyway.
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Not at the Pentagon though. In case you don’t know, the Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department Of Defense, and they’re apparently using an animated online course about a zombie outbreak to teach nurses about population health. The Pentagon itself also has its own guidelines in case of a zombie outbreak. Do they know something we don’t?
It’s not actually as sinister as it sounds – Dr. Catherine Ling explains why she uses the zombie outbreak scenario when teaching people about population health:
The narrative device of a zombie pandemic in animations and assignment is used to help engage students in content.
The zombie story keeps the material interesting and the theme helps the lessons be more cohesive.
Students have to apply the theories and models of public health that they’ve learned during the course to the case study of a zombie apocalypse.
Students are assigned to a fictional division of the Defense Department, and have to deal with the zombie apocalypse by administering vaccines, enacting quarantines, and obtaining international resources whilst adhering to actual Pentagon guidelines.
The zombie narrative also makes it easier for students to remember the material so they can apply it in real life emergencies like outbreaks of the Zika virus or ebola.
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Hmmm. Still sounds a little too like they’re preparing for something that might just be around the corner doesn’t it? I mean it’s kind of weird that they would use an example of a zombie apocalypse rather than something that MIGHT ACTUALLY HAPPEN in the future and so would be more useful to learn about and perform a simulation of, even if this content might appear ‘more engaging’ on the face of it. Not convinced.
If a zombie apocalypse ever did happen though, I’m heading straight to this house. I’d be safe and sound.
