[cgriswald]

We had a great professor and this was one of the most enjoyable classes I've ever taken. One particular assignment was a group paper where we were supposed to essentially explain and use the SIR model. We extended the model to an SIRZ model and effectively argued that zombie apocalypses in fiction are essentially impossible unless they include some supernatural elements. Under a wide range of assumptions (e.g., zombies rot/zombies don't rot) the infection always stopped before it spread significantly. (We got an A.)

[Fomite]

I use zombies in my epidemic modeling class - one of my favorite results is, with a semi-complex model, you can replicate the script of most zombie movies mathematically (lots of people die, the survivors take shelter somewhere and are safe for awhile, attrition starts to take hold, things collapse and then you're left with a small surviving fraction of protagonists at the end).