What can zombies and Doctor Who tell us about genetics or vegan ethics? Find out at the Popular Culture Lecture Series at Nottingham.

Mathieu Donner, postgraduate researcher and teaching fellow in the School of English, who organised the lectures, says: “Popular culture is what we live by, breathe in, and — often literally — consume every single day, from our phones to the radios of our cars, from the circus to the stage, the street or the big screen.

“These lectures offer the chance to explore a new perspective or angle from your favourite novel, TV series, movie or comic book with experts from across the University. I’d encourage anyone with an interest in popular culture to come along. Everyone is welcome.”

All lectures are at 5.30pm, Wednesdays, B13 Physics Building, University Park. A 30-40 minute lecture is followed by a 20-minute Q&A.

Programme includes: 18 February Timo Schrader, School of Cultures, Language and Area Studies, slam poetry, verbal combat and the “death of Art” debate.

25 February Kate Stewart, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Matthew Cole, Open University, “I need fish fingers and custard”: the irruption and suppression of vegan ethics in Doctor Who.

4 March Sean May, School of Biosciences, zombie genomics; or the didactic dead.

11 March Keith Bound, School of Cultures, Language and Area Studies, “do you like scary movies?”: defining the anatomy of cinematic suspense and viewer anticipatory patterns.

18 March Catherine Johnson, School of Cultures, Language and Area Studies, selling The Hunger Games: the digital infrastructure of blockbuster promotion.

25 March Lynn Fotheringham and Stephen Hodkinson, School of Classics, “This is Sparta!”: ancient Greece in film and comics.

29 April Susannah Lydon, School  of Biosciences, travels in deep time: evolution and extinction in classic Doctor Who.

6 May Nathan Waddell, School of English, Wyndham Lewis, the thriller, and the popular.