...But If a Zombie Apocalypse Did Occur: Essays on Medical, Military, Governmental, Ethical, Economic and Other Implications

by Amy L. Thompson (Editor), Antonio S. Thompson (Editor)

Overview

Part pop culture trope, part hypothetical cataclysm, the zombie apocalypse is rooted in modern literature, film and mythology. This collection of new essays considers the implications of this scientifically impossible (but perhaps imminent) event, examining real-world responses to pandemic contagion and civic chaos, as well as those from Hollywood and popular culture. The contributors discuss the zombie apocalypse as a metaphor for actual catastrophes and estimate the probabilities of human survival and behavior during an undead invasion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786475506
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	08/12/2015
Series:	Contributions to Zombie Studies
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Amy L. Thompson is an associate professor of biology at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She has published several research articles on skeletal muscle development and disease, brown recluse spider bite pathology, and pedagogy, including using popular culture in the classroom. Antonio S. Thompson is a professor of history at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He is the author of four books on World War II Axis prisoners of war in the United States, has co-edited two books on American military and diplomatic history, and has also published on zombie popular culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword Wade Davis 1

Introduction Amy L. Thompson Antonio S. Thompson 7

The Rise of the Zombie in Popular Culture James F. Thompson 11

Other Apocalypses: Historical Perspectives on Mass Destruction Nick Proctor 26

Looking to the CDC and WHO for Answers Amy L. Thompson 42

A Matter of Timing: The U.S. Army Response to a Zombie Invasion Jason W. Warren 59

Neurobiology of a Zombie Steven Schlozman 75

Communications in a Zombie Apocalypse: Usage, Control and Collapse of Mass Media Diem-My T. Bui 88

Reaction of Health Care Providers to the Zombie Apocalypse Linda W. Thompson 105

Day of the Engineer: Engineering and the Zombie Apocalypse Jeff Moehlis 122

Homeland Security, FEMA and Securing the Masses Against the Zombie Horde Jeremy Youde 138

A Particularly "nasty, brutish, and short" Life: Individuals, Groups and Government in the Zombie Apocalypse Antonio S. Thompson 156

The Law and the Living Dead Jennifer M. Lankford 174

A Sociologist Responds to Zombies David F. Steele 192

The Psychology of Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse Scott Mirabile 209

"Three men, and the place is surrounded": Reel Women in the Zombie Apocalypse Luanne Roth Kate Shoults 227

Postmortem Ethics: Personhood at the Margins of Death Cory Andrew Labrecque 246

Zombies in the Sunshine State: An Economic and Historical Analysis of the Zombie Apocalypse Christopher M. Esing 261

About the Contributors 279

Index 283

Editorial Reviews

an intelligent, thought-provoking and highly readable book”—Destructive Music; “the zombie apocalypse is studied as a vehicle to discuss the probability of life, behavior, and reaction during an undead invasion or other apocalyptic event”—ProtoView.

From the Publisher