Ithaca College

In this seminar, we will explore the Book of Revelation in order to see how its controversial portrait of ultimate endings has shaped religious and political thinking from antiquity until today.

SELECTED TOPICS: HISTORY OF APOCALYPSE
RLST 27503

[no previous religious studies courses required]

This course is a "selected topics" course in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. This could be the only time the course is offered. Join us!

In this seminar, we will explore the Book of Revelation in order to see how its controversial portrait of ultimate endings has shaped religious and political thinking ever since. We will we begin with antiquity as we focus in particular on views of time, ideological representations of women, and views about conflict – especially as this manifests in articulations of “us” versus “them.” We will then move to medieval and contemporary challenges in the form of: Christian framings of human enemies (such as Muslims) in apocalyptic hermeneutics; Islamic apocalypticism as a means of articulating contemporary identities; and the mediation of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic themes in popular culture (The Walking Dead; Falling Skies; World War Z, The Fallout series of videogames, etc.). These contemporary permutations of apocalyptic culture depend heavily on the presumption of those who are “chosen” and those who “deserve” punishments. Thus, apocalyptic literature can readily be viewed as a site of cultural contestation of values.