Notes for the reading assignments:

• Biblical readings are listed with the standard names and the assigned chapter(s) of the various biblical books. They are hyper-linked to on-line versions of the New American Bible.
• Extra-Biblical readings can all be found in Mitchell Reddish, Apocalyptic Literature: A Reader, and most are also hyper-linked to various translations available on the internet.
• Sociological readings are mostly from Robbins & Palmer, Millennium, Messiahs and Mayhem. - abbrev. R&P
• Literary readings are either from the required novels, or from other selections on library reserve.
• For each block, you will receive a handout with questions to guide your own reading and our group discussions of these texts. These handouts are also available on-line on our page of Questions and Reflections.

Tues, Jan. 11

Organizational Stuff: Course Syllabus; Discussion Sections; Final Semester Projects; Student Profiles; etc.

Main Lecture Topic: "From Genesis to Revelation - from the perspectives of Bible, Sociology, and Literature"

Internet Resources:  The Book of Revelation, Apocalyptic Literature, and Millennial Movements - compiled by F. Just, S.J.
 

Thurs, Jan. 13

Main Lecture Topic: "Historical Crises in Ancient Israel, and the Beginnings of Apocalyptic Literature" [FJ]

Biblical Readings: 2 Kings 24–25 (cf. Jeremiah 52);  Psalm 137;  Ezra 1;  1 Maccabees 1–2;  Daniel 1–12

Extra-Biblical Readings: Mitchell Reddish, "Preface" & "Introduction" (pp. 13-38)

Internet Resources:

• Definition of "Apocalypse" and Related Words
• Four Covenants and Seven Pillars of Ancient Judaism
• An Overview of Israelite, Jewish, and Early Christian History
• The Book of Daniel - Historical Study Materials - by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.
• Book of Daniel - from ReligiousTolerance.org
• Video: PBS Frontline: "Apocalypse"

Tues, Jan. 18

Main Lecture Topic: "Crises in First-Century Judaism and Christianity, in relation to the Book of Revelation" [FJ]

Biblical Readings: Mark 13 (cf. Luke 21; Matt 24–25);  Revelation 1–22

Sociological Readings: Robbins & Palmer, "Introduction: Patterns of Contemporary Apocalypticism" (R&P, 1-27)

Literary Readings: William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming" (on LMU library reserve or E-Res)

Internet Resources:

• Various Outlines of the Book of Revelation
• Numbers in the Book of Revelation
• The Number of the Beast: Some Fun with 666
• Links to Websites pertinent to the Book of Revelation
• Map of Asia Minor - by Mike Campbell

Thurs, Jan. 20 - Discussion Sections (Reflection Paper #1 due)

We will first meet together in Pereira 31 for a short video & for organization of discussion groups.
Then we will split up into three groups, also using rooms in Burns 152 and Burns 153.

Extra Sociological Reading: David G. Bromley, "Constructing Apocalypticism" (R&P, 31-45)

[See the extra handout for Block 1 Discussion Questions and specific instructions for your written reflections.]

Tues, Jan 25

Main Lecture Topic: "Apocalyptic Imagination: Persistent Post-War Themes and Secular Impact" [JC]

Sociological Readings: Catherine Wessinger, "Millennialism with and without the Mayhem" (R&P, 47-59)

D. Anthony & T. Robbins, "Religious Totalism, Exemplary Dualism, and the Waco Tragedy" (R&P 261-284)

• Center for Millennial Studies - clearing house for international conferences, bibliographies, and media events
• Apocalypse Soon - true believers and their predictions
• Atlantis Station: The Premier Prophecy Study Site - links to many things, incl. info on premillennialism
• Definitions of Millennialism - from ReligiousTolerance.org
• PBS Frontline: Waco - materials related to the PBS television special
• Students of the Seven Seals: The Branch Davidians and David Koresh - a student research project
• Video: Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - images and other materials

Thurs, Jan. 27

Main Lecture Topic: "Rupture in Contemporary Post-Modern Literature and Culture" [HL]

Literary Readings: Don DeLillo, White Noise

Internet Resources:

• [no longer online] About The Underworld of Don DeLillo - several pertinent articles in issue #7 of the on-line journal UnderCurrent (1999); see esp. the article "Beyond Baudrillard's Simulacral Postmodern World: White Noise" by Haidar Eid
• "White Noise on White Noise" - a collection of 36 randomly selected fragments of text from Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, complete with random hyperlinks
• DeLillo's White Noise - various materials by C. Gardner, UC Berkeley; including an interview by Ray Suarez of DeLillo's vision of technology and the use of satire
• Thinking about DeLillo's White Noise - a fun and active reading and thinking game to test your knowledge of DeLillo's novel
• TV Images from White Noise - a short collection by Prof. Holli Levitsky, Loyola Marymount University

Tues, Feb. 1

Main Lecture Topic: "Rupture/Rapture in Modern Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian Expectations" [FJ]

Biblical Readings: 1 Thess 4:13–5:11;  2 Thess 1:1–3:18;  2 Peter 3:1-18;  1 John 2:1–3:24;  2 John & 3 John

Extra-Biblical Readings: 1 Enoch 93&91: "The Apocalypse of Weeks" (Reddish, 54-57);

1 Enoch 85–90: "The Animal Apocalypse" (Reddish, 41-53)

• New Testament Eschatology - a compilation of some eschatological texts
• The Enoch Literature - an overview article by James C. VanderKam, University of Notre Dame
• The Rapture - an introductory overview with definitions, from ReligiousTolerance.org
• Rapture Ready - a site by and for believers in pre-tribulation rapture
• Video: Seven Signs of Christ's Return - a video from a believer's perspective; biblical analysis by Felix Just, S.J.
• Video: The Road to Rapture - a video version of an A&E Television "Special Presentation"

[See the extra handout for Block 2 Discussion Questions and specific instructions for your written reflections.]

Tues, Feb. 8

Main Lecture Topic: "The Holocaust" [HL]

Literary Readings: Zvi Kolitz, "Yosl Rakover Talks to God" (on library reserve or E-Res)

[Adolf Hilter, Mein Kampf - no longer required reading]

• Holocaust: Schindler's List - information and links from About.com
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - their official website; very comprehensive and useful materials
• PBS Frontline: Shtetl - companion website to the PBS program
• Images of the Holocaust - a compilation for today's lecture, but Prof. Holli Levitsky

Thurs, Feb. 10

Main Lecture Topic: "The Holocaust: Anti-Semitism in the Ancient & Modern World" - Panel Discussion [FJ, HL, JC]

Biblical Readings: Matt 23, 26–28;  John 7-9

Extra-Biblical Readings: 4 Ezra 3:1–6:59, 11:1–12:51 (Reddish, 58-72, 87-92)

Internet Resources:

• Jews in the Gospel of John - a handout by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.
• American Interfaith Institute - a cooperative venture between Jewish and Christian scholars; good publications available
• The Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies - large bibliography on Anti-Semitism and Christianity
• Anti-Semitism in the NT -

Tues, Feb. 15 - (Stage 1 of Final Project due)

Main Lecture Topic: "The Social Critical Role of Utopia in Social Science: Karl Mannheim, Theodore Adorno, and Alvin Gouldner" [JC]

Sociological Readings: "Utopia and Utopianism" and "Mannheim, Karl"; both from the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (on library reserve or E-Res).

Internet Resources:

• Utopia on the Internet - a very comprehensive and categorized listing of links
• Intentional Communities - "important information and access to crucial resources for seekers of community, existing and forming communities, and other friends of community"
• Theodor W. Adorno - from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972): Table 2;  Table 3;  Table 4

Thurs, Feb. 17

Main Lecture Topic: "Feminist Visions of Utopia and Dystopia" [HL]

Literary Readings: Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale;

Helene Cixous, "Laugh of the Medusa" (on library reserve or E-Res).

• The Atwood Society's Margaret Atwood Information Site - hosted by the University College of the Cariboo in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
• The Official Margaret Atwood Information Web Site - multiple clicks to enter this site, put together by her assistants
• Study Guide to Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale - by Paul Brians, Dept. of English, Washington State University, Pullman
• Helene Cixous: "The Laugh of the Medusa" - an essay by Dr. Mary Klages, University of Colorado at Boulder
• Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Utopia - by Laura Quilter

Tues, Feb. 22

Main Lecture Topic: "Feminist Visions of Utopia and Dystopia, cont." - Panel Discussion [HL, JC, FJ]

Biblical Readings: Gen 29:1–30:4; 38:1-30; Deut 25:5-10;  and re-read Rev 12, 17, 21

Sociological Readings: Susan Palmer, "Woman as World Savior" (R&P, 159-171);

Michael Cuneo, "The Vengeful Virgin" (R&P, 175-194)

• The Sistine Chapel - images of the Creation of the World, the Creation of Adam and of Eve, etc.
• The Last Judgment: Hans Memling -
• The Last Judgment: Hieronymus Bosch -
• The Last Judgment: Michelangelo -
• Major Apparitions of Jesus and Mary - from Apparitions.org (offline 8/05)
• Our Lady of the Roses, Mary, Help of Mothers - the official website from Bayside, New York
• Marian Apparitions from Bayside, New York - a Power-Point presentation by LMU students Jorge Sandoval & Danielle Refuge
• The Fatima Network: Our Lady of Fatima Online - see esp. "The Third Secret Revealed" in the "History" section
• The Descendants of Abraham - note especially the roles of Hagar, Bilhah and Zilpah

Thurs, Feb. 24 - Discussion Sections (Reflection Paper #3 due)

[See the extra handout for Block 3 Discussion Questions and specific instructions for your written reflections.]

Tues, March 7 - (begin Stage 2 of Final Project)

Main Lecture Topic: "The Sublime and the Grotesque" [HL]

Literary Readings: Jorge Luis Borges, "The Aleph"  (on library reserve or E-Res);

Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle  (selection; on library reserve or E-Res).

• Jorge Luis Borges: "The Garden of Forking Paths" - see also their Images page.
• The Secret Books:  text by Jorge Luis Borges; photographs by Sean Kernan.
• Jorge Luis Borges: Biography -
• Borges Art - from the Jorge Luis Borges Center for Studies and Documentation; University of Aarhus; Vakalo School of Arts & Design
• Hebrew Alphabet - by Rabbi Yisroel David Berger
• Significance Within The Hebrew Aleph-Beyth - [no longer online]
• Sigmund Freud and the Freud Archives - from the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and Society

Thurs, March 9

Main Lecture Topic: "Apocalypse and Utopia in Medieval and Modern Religious Art" [FJ]

Extra-Biblical Readings: The Apocalypse of Peter (Reddish, 243-254); also read only the introductions only to The Ascension of Isaiah 6-11 (Reddish, 277-280) and The Apocalypse of Paul (Reddish, 291-293), but not the full texts

Biblical Readings: re-read Rev 1, 4-6

Internet Resources:

• Art and Images related to the Book of Revelation - apocalyptic art on the web, compiled by Felix Just, S.J.
• Symbols of the Four Evangelists - traditionally connected with the four "living creatures" of Rev 4:7
• Beatus of Liebana (Codex Urgellensis) - most influential illuminated manuscript; from 8th century Spain
• The Morgan Beatus - a multi-part article on the Beatus Manuscript of the Pierpont Morgan Library; click here for Part II and Part III
• The Last Judgment - a collection of art related to the Last Judgment; from "The Text This Week", by Jenee Woodard

Main Lecture Topic: "Technological Millenarianism: Luddites and Celebrators" [JC]

Sociological Readings: Philip Lamy, "Secularizing the Millennium" (R&P 93-117);

Martha Lee, "Environmental Apocalypse" (R&P 119-137);

John Bozeman, "Technological Millenarianism in the United States" (R&P 139-158)

• The Neo-Luddite Reaction - resources and readings, from the University of Colorado at Denver
• Luddites: 1811-1812 - from the Spartacus Internet Encyclopedia, covering British History, 1700-1950
• Fritz Lang's Metropolis - various information and links, by Augusto Cesar B. Areal, Brazil
• Metropolis HomePage - by film buff Douglas Quinn, CSP
• KOYAANISQATSI: Life Out of Balance - a movie by Godfrey Reggio; music by Philip Glass
• Ferdinand Leger:  Global Gallery - pictures of Nature Morte, of Leisure: Homage to Louis David, and of Three Women
• History of  Surrealism - see also the pictures  Illumined Pleasures, 1929, by Salvador Dali, and  Indefinite Divisibility, 1942, by Yves Tanguy
• Pablo Picasso: Les demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 - from CGFA

Thurs, March 16 - Discussion Sections (Reflection Paper #4 due)

[See the extra handout for Block 4 Discussion Questions and specific instructions for your written reflections.]

Tues, March 21

Main Lecture Topic: "Millenarian Movements: Who Gets Recruited, How, and What Do They Find?" [JC]

Sociological Readings: John Hall & Philip Schuyler, "The Mystical Apocalypse of the Solar Temple" (R&P 285-311)

William Kephart, "The Oneida Community" (from Extraordinary Groups, 50-93; on library reserve or E-Res)

• Definitions of Terms: Cults, Sects, Denominations  - from ReligiousTolerance.org
• see also their page on The Anti-Cult Movement
• Religion Meta-Sites, incl. New Religious Movements - links from the GTU Library, Berkeley
• see also the Christian anti-cult True Light Educational Ministry
• The Oneida Community Mansion House - official website of the National Historic Landmark
• The Oneida Community - a bibliography by Howard A. Landman
• AFF's Cult Research Resources: Unification Church, "Moonies" - another cult research group
• The Unification Church - Official Website: "The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity"
• see also the related Unification Home Page - "A presentation of the life, teachings, and public work of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, the True Parents of all humanity, and of all of Heaven and Earth."
• and a brief notice about a Mass wedding of Unification Church - Madison Square Garden; June 13, 1998
• The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation, by Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge:
• Table 18.2 - "Religious Origins of Cult Members Proportional to the U.S. Population" (p. 401)
• Table 18.4 - "Education and Openness to Religious Innovation - Percent Giving Indicated Response" (p. 408)
• The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?, by Eileen Barker:
• Table 6 - "Reactions to Workshops"
• Table 14 - "How Important Were the Following Ideals?"

Main Lecture Topic: "Concerned Christians and Other Millennial Religious Groups Today" [FJ]

Biblical Readings: Isaiah 24-27;  Ezekiel 37-39;  Joel 1-3;  Zechariah 9-14

Extra-Biblical Readings: The Apocalypse of Thomas (Reddish, 330-333); 6 Ezra = 2 Esdras 15-16 (Reddish, 343-350)

Internet Resources:

• CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions - led by Massimo Introvigne, Turin, Italy - see esp. their breaking news on the Mass Suicides in Uganda this past weekend.
• "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God" - another analysis of the suicide Uganda group, from ReligiousTolerance.org
• Concerned Christians - a student PowerPoint presentation, Spring 1999;  see also analyses by CESNUR and by ReligiousTolerance.org
• John Hagee  - an excellent student website project!
• "Third Millennium & Jubilee Year 2000" - from the National Council of Catholic Bishops [no longer online, but see also Jubilee 2000]

Tues, March 28

Main Lecture Topic: "Millennial Movements in Science Fiction and in Comic Strips" [guest: Michael Zuccaro]

Literary Readings: Selections from Jack Kirby's "New Gods" (apocalyptic comic strips; parts 1-3 on library reserve or E-Res)

Internet Resources:

• Jack Kirby's "New Gods" - from DC Comics; look for Jack Kirby's "New Gods" or the "Vertigo: Y2K" books
• "Biblical influence in Kirby's NEW GODS" - a short article [no longer online]; see instead "Judaism & Jewish Influences in Kirby's Work"
• The Jack Kirby Collector - images of Jack Kirby's publications
• Superman Adventures Featuring New Gods - a list of upcoming TV episodes

Thurs, March 30 - Discussion Sections (Reflection Paper #5 due)

[See the extra handout for Block 5 Discussion Questions and specific instructions for your written reflections.]

Tues, April 4 - (finish Stage 2 of Final Project)

Main Lecture Topic: "Secular Apocalypses: Continuities and Differences from Religious Apocalypses" [JC]

Sociological Readings: Mike Davis, "Beyond Blade Runner" (from Ecology of Fear, 359-422; on library reserve or E-Res)

Internet Resources:

• From the Shelves of Nocturne - "Los Angeles from the people who describe it best"
• Apocalypse Then - an essay about "Post-Apocalypse Los Angeles", from Feed Magazine (unavailable 5/05)
• Blade Runner: Film Noir or Science Fiction? - a well-organized site with text, images, and clips; by Timo Mikkola
• Blade Runner - a long and detailed review, with text only; by Tim Dirks
• Martin's Film Noir Page - good information - new URL
• Film Noir - short definition and long list of films
• Mike Davis: Author of Ecology of Fear - multi-page interview, from About.com

Thurs, April 6

Main Lecture Topic: "Apocalyptic Literature and Films in L.A." [HL]

Literary Readings: Nathanael West, Day of the Locust

Joan Didion, "Los Angeles Notebook," in Slouching towards Bethlehem (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968/1979; on library reserve or E-Res)

• Apocalypse, California-Style - "Stefanie Syman on L.A.'s doomsday makeover"; also from Feed Magazine, 1/96 (unavailable 5/05)
• Los Angeles Apocalypse - a short poem by Philip Levine; reprinted in Poetry of the American West
• Nathanael West - short biography and bibliography;  see also "The Day of the Locust" - 1975 movie, directed by John Schlesinger
• Joan Didion in the 1960s: Slouching Towards Disjunction - a two-part article at Suite101.com
• Joan Didion - brief biography with a listing of her books and links to related sites

Tues, April 11

Guest Lecturer: Thomas McGovern, "The New City: Art and Architecture of the Millennium" (art show)

Internet Resources:

• Great Buildings Online: Frank Gehry - Images, Biography and Resources about this influential architect
• Frank Gehry: Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate 1989 - brief biography, photo gallery, etc.
• LACMA - exhibition on "Robert Heinecken, Photographist: A Thirty-Five-Year Retrospective" (February 13 to April 24, 2000)
• The Matrix - graphics-intensive official movie site with flash or regular version; trailer, photos, cast/crew info and online comic book
• Edward Ruscha - brief article discussing the artist's work with accompanying images
• Designed by Numbers - MIT's design/computer/art laboratory

Thurs, April 13 - Discussion Sections (Reflection Paper #6 due)

[See the extra handout for Block 6 Discussion Questions and specific instructions for your written reflections.]

Tues, April 18 - See the extra Webpage for all the Student Projects

Thurs, April 20 - See the extra Webpage for all the Student Projects

Tues, April 25 - See the extra Webpage for all the Student Projects

Thurs, April 27 - See the extra Webpage for all the Student Projects

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friday, May 5,  8:00-10:00 a.m. - Scheduled Time for Final Exam