11:15-12:05 MW BH 109
This course studies novels and poems, films and plays, and paintings
and songs dealing with the subject of The End of the World.  The
primary focus is on the 20th century; although apocalyptic writing is
almost as old as Western civilization, it appears most frequently at
the ends of centuries, and the approach of the year 2000 has already
produced a bumper crop of “millennial” books and movies.  We identify
the basic features of apocalyptic art, paying special attention to
the human values that each work supports or attacks.  The course also
examines the specific historical context in which each work was
produced.  Although we frequently discuss the religious, political,
and sociological reasons that lead people to believe in the end of
the world, the course does not dispute or defend such beliefs—still
less to predict when, where, and how the world might end.  Instead,
the focus is on the artistic uses to which significant writers,
painters, musicians, and filmmakers have put this idea, especially in
works that do not appear to be “apocalyptic” at first glance.
The course is taught in lecture format, with discussion sections and
three evening film showings.  Grades are based primarily on three
short papers and two examinations, plus attendance and
participation.  Texts include Revelations, The Last Judgment, War of
the Worlds, Hiroshima, Apocalypse Now, Things Fall Apart, Angels in
America, Terminator, and selected poems and popular music lyrics.