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Academic Year 2003/2004

The End of the World: The Millennium and the End Times in American Thought
RELI 287 FA

The year 2000 came and went with no major cataclysm. The end of the world did not come, but neither did the end of expecting the end. Some religious groups in the U.S. continue to 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 (Christian, Jewish and Muslim 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

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS RELI    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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