The End of the World in America Religious Studies 370  

Course Goals / Class Procedures / Monographs / Course Requirements

Course Description
    In the year 2000 we will reach the millennium.  The closer we come to that moment, the more Americans think about what the chronological landmark means for ourselves and our communities.  This course is designed to examine the various ways in which American culture has anticipated the end of the world and / or the millennium.  Throughout the course we will focus on how people imagine a New Age or New World, and will locate those millennial impulses within larger theoretical and historical frameworks.  To do this we will examine how individuals respond to and refashion American social norms, such as family relationships, gender roles, capitalism, institutional religion, and the built and natural environment.

Course Goals
    There are three primary goals for this course.  In this class you will:  1) become familiar with the historical manifestations of millennialism;  2) look closely at two twentieth century millennial groups;  3) examine the ways in which millennialism emerges in popular culture.  To reach these goals we will read scholarly and popular writings on millennialism, view films, read novels, and visit millennial web sites.

Class Procedures
    The course is divided into three sections.  The first section introduces you to sacred texts that foretell the end of the world.  The second section adopts a case-study approach to examining American millennial groups.  The last section addresses American apocalyptic culture.
    This is an ambitious course in scope and content.  You will need to use a variety of critical thinking strategies to approach the course materials.  Most of the assigned readings and viewings have been written / created in the past few years; it is material that invites argument and demands appraisal.  Class discussion will be devoted to the consideration of these assigned texts, therefore, the success of this course depends upon everyone's careful preparation and active
participation.

Monographs

Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More:  Prophesy Belief in Modern American Culture  (Cambridge, MA:  Harvard Univ. Press, 1992)

Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexuality:  The Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida Community  (Urbana:  University of Illinois Press, 1984)

Stuart Wright, Armageddon in Waco  (Chicago:  Univ. of Chicago Press, 1995)

Daniel Wojcik, The End of the World as We Know It (New York:  New York University, 1997)

David Chidester, Salvation and Suicide (Bloomington:  Indiana Univ. Press, 1988)

Course Pack

Videos

The Seventh Sign
The Rapture
Dr. Strangelove
Twelve Monkeys

Web Sites

We will develop webliography and a group standard for evaluating websites.

Start searches here:  http://www.mille.org/sites.html

Course Requirements

Course Participation  (15%)
    This upper-level class will be conducted as a seminar.  Thus, the success of the class depends on each student's active participation.  While I will lecture occasionally, the bulk of the class time will be devoted to discussing your responses to the assignments.  Therefore, you must come to class prepared to speak, listen, and think.  The required readings must be completed each Tuesday prior to class. Always bring your readings to class.  Participation in a structured academic discussion requires a particular set of skills.  One of my goals for this class is to help you to develop and fine tune these skills.  Thorough preparation through close reading / viewing is the first and crucial step.  Beyond that, you must learn to ask creative questions that emerge from your own ideas and experiences and to listen to others while building upon their comments and observations.  Full participation in discussion involves interacting with colleagues through a respectful exchange of ideas and opinions (See tips for class preparation).

• Your participation grade will be based on your ability to engage in active discussion as outlined above.  Half way through the class I will give each student a written progress evaluation and suggestions for improvement.
• Regular attendance will count toward your participation grade.  Students may miss up to two classes for necessary absences, however additional absences will affect participation grades.

Research Paper:  (25%)
    Due:  11/29/99
    Each student will research and write an 8-10 page paper.  We will discuss the topics, contents, and guidelines in class.

Web Site  (10%)
    Each student in this course will construct a web site that examines a theme of a specific group that we have studied.  We will discuss the procedure and content in class.

Exams  (50%)
    The midterm and final exams will be blue book exams that will consist of identifications and essay questions.  I will choose identifications and essay questions.  I will choose identification terms from readings, lectures, and discussions.  I will distribute sample essay questions one week prior to each exam.    

Film Viewings
    Many times this semester you will be asked to view films in the evenings and sometimes over the weekend.  Attendance is required at these viewings even if you have already seen this video in another context.  Discussions of the films are planned for the class immediately following the viewing.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS:  For each film we will ask four critical questions:

1)  What events lead to the end of the world?
2)  Who initiates these events?
3)  Are these events inevitable?
4)  How can one survive the end of the world?

Academic Integrity
    All the work that you submit for this course falls under the academic integrity umbrella.  Therefore, you must provide citations for ideas, quotes, paraphrases, etc. that you include in your final projects.  Neglecting to cite the sources is plagiarism.  We will discuss proper citation for final projects in this class, but if at any time throughout the semester you have a question about citing a source, please ask me!