GEOG 2NApocalyptic Geographies: How can we prevent the end of the world?

3 credits · Geography · Penn State

This course explores various visions of the apocalypse and their relevance for addressing major contemporary social, ecological, and economic issues. These issues include global climate change, nuclear war, the growing refugee crisis, the breakdown of democratic governance, economic recession and forms of everyday violence and social fracture. Students will develop and employ critical and analytical thinking skills to engage a diversity of texts from the humanities (e.g., historical and literary accounts, graphic novels, films and other historical and contemporary media) and contemporary popular culture in order to situate these apocalyptic visions in particular historical, cultural, and political contexts. Students will utilize integrative thinking skills and an interdisciplinary geographic approach to connect these visions with contemporary social issues in order to consider how we might address these complex problems while imagining and actualizing alternative futures. Students will practice global learning, drawing on course material that engages U.S. and cross-cultural perspectives in recognition of the global reach of the interconnected social, economic, political, and cultural systems that shape humanity's shared fate.