58勛圖

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Module description

From climate change to nuclear tensions, visions of catastrophic events have been saturating the public sphere, while the recent pandemic has given rise to an atmosphere of even more fearful anticipation. Yet, stories of extinctions, catastrophes, and other potential annihilations are not new, as they belong instead to the history of different human cultures in their own coming to terms with possible apocalyptic endings. In this module, we will explore multiple forms of producing, governing, and resisting narratives of world endings: how do different cultures tell them? What affects are involved? How do these narratives deal with issues of scale and representability? What does survival mean in such scenarios? Students will thus critically explore the emerging scholarship in fields as diverse as STS and the Environmental Humanities to gain an understanding of the ways in which human communities have theorised, imagined, practised, and experienced surviving their own potential ends.

Intended learning outcomes

• understand the significance and function of concepts of apocalypse, catastrophe, collapse, crisis and survival across a range of political, social and cultural contexts
• identify key analytical approaches that engage with themes of social and environmental futures, catastrophe and survival
• recognise the significance of different literary forms and genres in narrating stories of socio-political and environmental collapse
• develop their skills in the areas of research, textual analysis and interpretation, and communication, both oral (via seminar participation) and written