Pop-Up Apocalypse!, 5 cr

During the past couple of decades, literary and visual culture has taken a special interest in depicting the end of the world as we know it. Through such diverse phenomena as climate change and scientific experiments or through such mobile figures of threat as zombies and contagious non-human organisms, Anglophone narratives have suggested that the end is nigh. Civilisations become destroyed, and the remaining humans nostalgically mourn for the past or try to imagine possible futures for humanity.

The course uses alternative study methods and focuses on individual, independent scientific study: classes mostly take place in the first period, after which students work on their own presentations in the second period. Each student chooses a (post)apocalyptic narrative (literary, filmic, televisual, et cetera), narrows down a research topic, and gives a conference presentation on Pop-up Apocalypse Day. Please note that there will be no classes on the (post)apocalyptic narratives themselves; instead, classes deal with transferable skills such as writing and commenting on abstracts as well as giving conference presentations. In addition, individual work is supervised by the teacher during the course.

The course is directed at students who have an interest in popular culture and (post)apocalyptic narratives; who are interested in research and independent study; who are looking for a pro gradu topic; and who can manage and respect deadlines, because we will organise a Pop-up Apocalypse Day with conference presentations at the end of the course.

Thematic areas of interest for conference presentations include, but are not limited to, the following areas of interest: (post)apocalyptic narratives and genre blending; landscapes of the (post)apocalypse; longing for the past or imagining future worlds; zombies and contagious viruses; climate change and science gone wrong; the (post)apocalypse and geopolitics.