APOCALYPSE, BEFORE AND AFTER
MHC 356.01 (0985) or ENG 463.01 (2806)
Professor Lee Quinby
Fall 2012, Tuesdays, 3 to 5:30 PM
Telephone: 212-729-2936 (O) 646-602-6062 (H)
leequinby@aol.com Office hours: T/W 2-3 PM
Instructional Tech Fellow: John Sorrentino
jsorrentino@gc.cuny.edu Office hours: T, 1-3 PM
Belief in the imminent destruction of the world and time itself emerged in the ancient world. Despite the fact that the Apocalypse has not arrived for over two millennia, conviction that our destruction is imminent continues to foment fear and fascination and has become more widespread than ever. In this course, we will investigate how Apocalypse became a Western paradigm and trace the ways it has been altered over time, with greatest emphasis on the shifts within American culture from the 20th to 21st centuries. We will consider how apocalypse stories breed anxiety and paranoia yet prompt reflection on crucial issues of the day and even entertain us.
By learning to recognize its narrative logic as manifest variously in religious, literary, and cinematic texts, we will gain an understanding of the ways in which doomsday belief shapes everyday perceptions in our own time, including impulses toward moral certitude and violence but also ways to imagine surviving a Zombie Apocalypse.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Knowledge Bases
Students should:
- develop ability to understand and analyze texts with apocalyptic themes and images
- develop understanding of apocalyptic texts in their interdisciplinary contexts (e.g., cultural, social, historical, scientific, psychological, and political)
- understand rhetorical strategies and gendered elements of apocalyptic discourse
- learn to appreciate textual and imagistic complexity, ambiguity, and paradox
- learn to identify apocalyptic styles
- develop ability to use websites as a learning/teaching tool
- develop understanding of interrelation of discourse, culture, and society
Academic Skills
Students should:
- be able to reason, think critically, evaluate, use evidence, and make judgments
- be able to write clearly and imaginatively, in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes and audiences
- be able to revise written work and creative project
- be able to use the library to find appropriate print and electronic sources
- develop a sense of fairness, objectivity, and accuracy in reporting
- understand the ethics of research and writing, including the proper citation, and integration, of source materials into their work and the meaning and consequences of plagiarism
- develop listening skills; develop ability to speak effectively
Social and Personal Skills
Students should:
- learn to be self-reflecting
- develop ability to work cooperatively and engage in civil debate
- develop respect for both intellectual and cultural diversity
