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Profs & Pints: Zombie Philosophy

Profs and Pints presents: "Zombie Philosophy," with William Egginton, professor of humanities and director of the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

Zombies have popped up everywhere. For at least the last decade, its been hard to turn on a TV in the evening, or walk city streets on nights around Halloween, without being overrun by legions of the undead. Their cultural prevalence has grown exponentially in recent years and it shows no sign of abating. Why are our lives so filled with images of the walking dead?

Come have your braaaaaaaain filled with insights on the phenomenon from William Egginton, a scholar of horror in literature and popular culture. Having captivated Profs and Pints audiences last December with his discussions of Krampus and other nightmares before Christmas, hes coming back to deliver yet another perfect headshot.

Professor Egginton will describe how modern zombiesas opposed to the Caribbean sort produced by voodoo masterswere conjured into existence by George Romeros low-budget gore fest Night of the Living Dead, which premiered in 1968, a pivotal year of social and political upheaval. Ever since, zombiesdespite appearing to be shambling, mindless brain-munchersactually have managed to offer acute insights into our social and existential condition. Whether crawling out of their graves unexplained or deprived of their humanity by an apocalyptic virus, they have been teaching us something about what we fear, what we are doing to our planet, and how we treat one another.

Professor Eggintons talk will cover a wide selection of movies, TV series, and books. Hell discuss Romeros original movie and his more recent Land of the Dead; Dany Boyless game-changing realization in 28 Days Later that zombies can be fast too; the cable TV juggernaut The Walking Dead; and more openly satirical fare like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Jim Jarmuschs The Dead Dont Die. Missing this event would be a grave mistake.