A MOOC Hopes to Sink Its Teeth Into a New Audience: TV Fans

Casey Fabris, The Chronicle of Higher Education summarizes, "Vampires are everywhere these days — books, television shows, movies. And now, a MOOC."

Photo: Canvas Network

The University of California at Irvine plans to offer a four-week MOOC based on the FX television series The Strain, which follows the spread of a disease with the “hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism.” The course, “Fight or Die: The Science Behind FX’s The Strain“ will be hosted on Instructure’s MOOC platform Canvas Network.

Three Irvine faculty members will teach the course, which will focus on three topics that come from the show: parasites, cyber attacks, and disease dynamics.

Sarah E. Eichhorn, associate dean of distance learning and a lecturer in the university’s school of physical sciences, says she hopes the MOOC will get people interested in math and science by leveraging the popularity of the television show.
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Source: Chronicle of Higher Education (blog)