General Catalog 2024-25

Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour. Imagining that world will come to end is common reaction to crises such as war, genocide, famine, epidemic, and natural disaster. It is also major component of some religious traditions and political movements that aim to change society from ground up. Exploration of narrative templates and visual images that have typically accompanied stories about end of world, historical moment and movement they emerge from, their creators, audiences, and impacts. Exploration of these questions through wide range of textual and visual works from scholarship and journalism to novels, graphic novels, films, and videos. Consideration of how typical story templates, characters, and motifs of apocalypse shape current perceptions of risks, crises, and disasters that range from violent social conflict and revolutionary movements to industrial accidents, epidemics, and climate change. P/NP or letter grading.