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HIST328E The Politics of the Apocalypse: Imagining the World's End in Modern Times | Kosicki

Field: Global Interchange and Exchange; Cultural and Intellectual; Religion and Society; STEM; War, Peace, and Society

The modern era has often pushed religious practice to its margins, yet Vladimir Putin's nuclear saber-rattling over Ukraine shows us apocalyptic thinking is anything but dead. This course will explore “the end of the world” throughout the modern era, focusing on religion, politics, and technology. We will examine key source texts, from Nostradamus &Nietzsche through Ray Bradbury &COVID-19, but also films (The Seventh Seal & Dr. Strangelove) and relevant music selections (from Wagner's operas, to Metallica).

Online Asynchronous

Material covered in this course includes:

  • Religious Beliefs
  • Nuclear War
  • Political Turmoil
  • Technological Advancements
  • Philosophy
  • Popular Culture
  • Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Instructor for the Course

Piotr Kosicki

Associate Professor, History

2101Q Francis Scott Key Hall
College Park MD, 20742

(301) 405-0908