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Academic Year 2000/2001
The End of the World: The Millennium and the End Times in American Religious Thought
RELI 294 SP
The approach of each millennium has been fraught with uncertainty and anxiety for many societies. As we approach the year 2000, some religious groups in the U.S. herald the hastening of the End Times, when a Messiah will
appear to cleanse the earth of
all unrighteousness. This course examines various American eschatologies and the religious communities that imagine them. Among the topics we will discuss will be Americanism, or the ways groups imagine the United
States to be favored by God; religious
politics (both Christian and Jewish fundamentalists); and the ways that American eschatologies are gendered and racialized. The End Times in pop culture will be considered through various novels and films.
MAJOR READINGS
BOOK OF DANIEL BOOK OF REVELATION Sacvan Bercovitch, THE AMERICAN JEREMIAD Paul Boyer, WHEN TIME SHALL BE NO MORE Octavia Butler, THE PARABLE OF THE SWORD (novel) David Chidester, SALVATION AND SUICIDE:
William Pierce, THE TURNER DIARIES
(novel) Hal Lindsey, LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH (novel) Elijah Muhammed, "Message to the Blackman in America" Scott Peterson, NATIVE AMERICAN PROPHECIES Michael G. Reddish, ed., APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: A READER
William Shaffir, "Luvavitch
Millennialism" in THE JEWISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Midterm, final, three essays.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
This course fulfills a "critical disciplines" departmental requirement. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be
dropped from the class list.
NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT:
Lecture
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level:
UGRD
Credit:
1
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI
Grading Mode:
Student Option
Prerequisites:
NONE
Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-26-2001
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459