A MOOC Based On a Successful TV Series of Vampires

Is “edutainment” a good teaching tool? How about leveraging the popularity of a TV series to get people interested in science?

The University of California at Irvine will offer in June, on the Canvas Network, a four-week-long MOOC based on a TV series: “Fight or Die: The Science Behind FX’s The Strain“. The course, open for enrollment, will focus on three topics that come from the show: parasites, cyber attacks, and disease dynamics.

In 2013 the University of California launched another MOOC based on a television show. It was a course based on AMC’s The Walking Dead, which attracted around 65,000 learners.