REL240
Portraits of the Apocalypse in Contemporary Films

Dr. Ted Trost
e-mail: ttrost@bama.ua.edu

What is "The Apocalypse"? How do human and divine purposes unite to construct the future? How does the world end? These questions have fascinated and haunted humanity from the beginning of time. After an initial investigation of the biblical Book of Revelation, this course will examine contemporary portrayals of the end times in five popular films, including Twelve Monkeys, Blade Runner, Dogma, The Left Behind, and The Matrix. While these films will constitute our basic "texts," our conversations about them will be supplemented with careful readings of religious, cultural, and literary scholarship. The class will be conducted in both seminar and lecture formats.

Fall 2002 Syllabus (pdf).