End Times Examined

World-ending fears — real and imagined — focused Honors Program students on the modern fascination of a post-apocalyptic world.

“The Apocalypse and After,” taught by Scott Rogers, English associate professor, investigated the nature of zombies and how they have changed over time.

“The zombies are a stand-in for any catastrophe,” Rogers said. “That’s the genius of zombies; they’re just a vessel you can make whatever you want. If you’ve got a culture with an anxiety, throw it in there.” 

Zombies have been used to illustrate racial issues, consumerism and global annihilation through technology.

But one antidote to fear, said botany assistant professor Bridget Hilbig, is to find answers to critical concerns. In her course “Food and Water for a Hungry World,” Honors students discussed ways to combat world hunger.

“The current issues of population growth, urbanization and climate change threaten that access and create a fear of an apocalypse-like environment, but also a strong desire to find a solution,” Hilbig said.

Honors courses allow creative minds the space to contemplate creative solutions.