GEOG30990 Confronting the Apocalypse

Academic Year 2020/2021

*** Not available in the academic year indicated above ***

Apocalypse scenarios abound in popular culture, due to causes as diverse as nuclear war, climate change, and (of course), pandemics. Thinking about disasters of the past, and about how a future apocalypse might occur, and giving consideration to how we might mitigate or survive them, presents deep questions around our understanding of science, economics culture and social organisation. In this unit, we will confront the end of the world. Examples from fiction will be used as a basis for investigating topical issues in technological advancement, climate science, social order, economic systems, and politics. Scholarly literature will underpin our best attempts at understanding disaster. Robust journalism provides us with our best attempts to communicate these ideas. In this highly interdisciplinary unit of study, you will work individually and - if you choose - together with other students on a diverse range of case studies, to explore some of the key problems confronting our civilization.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe examples of potentially catastrophic issues facing our society, such as climate change, economic collapse and nuclear war.
• Discuss how fictional representations of apocalyptic scenarios can reflect our concerns and inform debate about threats to society.
• Explain a particular aspect of an apocalyptic scenario in-depth, connecting to the broader scientific and social context.
• Conduct scholarly qualitative research to explore threats to our society and possible solutions in an interdisciplinary context.
• Understand both the value and limitations of scientific knowledge in addressing real-world questions and problems in a social context.
• Create a video or write a public-facing essay to communicate ideas, using appropriate technology.

Indicative Module Content:

• Historical Geographies of Disaster
• The Apocalypse in Popular Culture and Consciousness
• Nuclear Armageddon and EMP
• Climate Breakdown
• Pandemics, Zombies and Plagues
• Doomsday Preppers and the Architecture of Dread
• The Post-Apocalyptic World
• The Knowledge: What We Need to Rebuild
• Escaping Earth

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

18
Practical

5
Project Supervision

2
Autonomous Student Learning

75
Total

100
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
In this course, you will be engaging with both scientific and popular literature with a goal in mind of being able to not just understand existential threats and solutions but to communicate them effectively. To that end, you will have the opportunity to make an individual or group video, to write a magazine-style essay and to produce a scholarly essay. Critical and flexible creative thinking will be encouraged in your efforts to tackle some of the world's biggest problems. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Project: The final project will either be a 1500-word 'long-form' media article for a popular publication (1-2 authors) or a mini-documentary (1-4 collaborators) on your scholarly essay topic or a new one. Week 12 n/a Graded No

50
Essay: In this scholarly essay, you will choose an apocalypse to confront. In 2500 words, you will outline the issue, cover relevant literature, and propose a solution (or set of solutions) to the crisis. Week 6 n/a Graded No

50

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

For the scholarly essay, each student will receive written comments with their mark, and be offered an opportunity to discuss the comments individually. For the final project, the same will apply, but if it is done as a group, each group member will receive the same mark.

Required Reading/Viewing:

Bendell, Jem (2018) Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy, IFLAS Occasional Paper 2, https://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf

Dartnell, Lewis (2014) The Knowledge: How to Rebuild the World from Scratch (London: Penguin Books).

Fraser, Emma (2016) Awakening in ruins: The virtual spectacle of the end of the city in video games, Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, Volume 8, Number 2, 1 June 2016, pp. 177-196(20).

Lovelock, James (2019), Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence (London: Penguin).

McCarthy, Cormack (2009) The Road [Film] Directed by John Hillcoat.


Suggested Reading:

Rees, Martin (2003) Our Final Hour: Will Civilisation Survive the Twenty-First Century? (London: Arrow Books).

Vanderbilt, Tom (2002) Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America (New York: Princeton Architectural Press).

Walsh, Bryan (2019) End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World (New York: Hachette).

Wiles, Will (2015) Hunger Games, Aeon Magazine, 22nd January, https://aeon.co/essays/trading-your-gun-for-milk-welcome-to-the-hunger-games