Welcome to the Course

What do ancient stories of a grand-scale day of doom tell us about our contemporary understanding of endings and beginnings and natural and technological disasters? In this course we will explore a range of scenarios for how human beings have envisioned the end of the world--or the world as we know it. We will compare stories about the end of time to stories about cycles of time. We will consider sources ranging from the ancient world to contemporary music, films, art, and fiction. We will examine the profound impact that the apocalyptic imagination has had on various cultures, including impulses toward moral certitude and violence. We will investigate the ways in which apocalyptic narratives are produced by and further produce gender and sexual oppositions. Our sources will prompt us to reflect on how the human imagination accentuates anxiety and seeks reassurance in the face of finality.

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