Course Syllabus

Fall 2024 | HUM-2090-VO01 - The Apocalypse in Culture, Literature, and the Media

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Collin Lee
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Candace Lewis

General Education Requirements

VSCS Humanistic Perspectives

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

In this course, students explore apocalyptic stories in mythology, religion, literature, and pop culture. Through the close study of myths, novels, short stories, films, television shows, and games from around the world, students examine common themes and explore why ancient stories about the end of the world continue to have relevance today.

Essential Objectives

1. Describe and discuss the defining characteristics of apocalyptic myths and stories.
2. Trace the origins of end-of-the-world stories in mythology and religion and examine commonalities between apocalyptic stories from various world cultures and religions, including Abrahamic, Mesoamerican, Norse, Native American, and others.
3. Discuss how the belief that the end of the world is imminent has influenced the actions of various groups, such as religious and environmental, and helped shape the course of human history.
4. Compare and contrast apocalyptic stories in literature, film, and video games and analyze them for common themes and concerns relevant to contemporary culture.
5. Examine current references or characterizations to apocalyptic themes around the world.
6. Analyze the origins of apocalyptic stories and examine the assumptions, concerns, and critiques of the contemporary culture that led to their creation.
7. Identify the critiques of culture and society at the root of apocalyptic stories and explore how these stories may demonstrate the need for social change.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a low cost ($50 or less) textbook or resource class. ***

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations, along with free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials.

Fall 2024 textbook/book details will be available on 2024-05-20. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

HUM-2090-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

For Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) Policy Statement

CCV recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools are widely available and becoming embedded in many online writing and creative applications.

Allowed: This course's generative AI policy acknowledges technology, including generative AI, plays a supportive role in learning and feedback. During our class, we may use AI writing tools such as ChatGPT in certain specific cases. You will be informed as to when, where, and how these tools are permitted to be used, along with guidance for attribution. Any use outside of these specific cases constitutes a violation of CCV's Academic Integrity Policy.

In this class, I am interested in YOUR thoughts and ideas, not those generated by Artificial Intelligence. In fact, there is a whole week of this course dedicated to ways in which technology and AI might take over everything and wipe us off the planet, so I am a strong believer in not handing the reins over to Skynet by letting AI do our thinking for us.

That being said, AI is here and is here to stay. I can either get on board with the idea that AI will increasingly be utilized in every aspect of our lives, including academics, or I can be the equivalent of the old man shaking his fist and ranting about how phonographs or automobiles or calculators or television or whatever is going to cause the downfall of humanity. I would also like to go on the record right now as stating that I, for one, welcome and am happy to serve our new synthetic overlords so when the inevitable robot uprising finally happens I won't be among the first they round up and turn into organic batteries to power their cold, metallic hearts.

With this in mind, in this class, we will explore how AI can be used as a tool for research and organization, and help us organize our thoughts more efficiently. What we will NOT do is use Generative AI to write papers, discussion posts, or other assignments for us. AI-generated papers are a form of plagiarism, period, and I will be able to tell if you use AI to write your work for you. Using AI to generate ideas, clarify confusing information, aid in research, or help organize your thoughts is an appropriate use of AI, but you cannot let it do your thinking or your writing for you. Any AI-generated work will be treated as plagiarized work and given a zero, but if you are transparent with how you are using AI and integrating it into your writing process rather than having it do your work for you, this is perfectly acceptable. We will be discussing and exploring in class how to use AI as a tool to make us better writers and scholars rather than letting AI do our work for us.

Methods

This course is designed to examine why the concept of "The End of the World" continues to have such a lasting significance, in religion, literature, film, and the media, and how individuals conceive of their relationship with society and the earth in the real world. Since the earliest complex societies, humanity has questioned their continued survival on the planet, whether our species deserves to maintain dominance over the earth, and what Earth might look like after human civilization has failed. Each week of this class, opportunities to read, reflect, and discuss will be provided. Over the course of the semester, students will have opportunities to choose unique examples of Apocalyptic mythology, literature, or media to research and present to the class. They will also be allowed to exercise their creativity as they examine how modern society might fail and what role (if any) humanity will have in Earth's continued existence after the fall of a complex global human civilization. Are humans the designated masters of the Earth, destined to shape its destiny regardless of the rise and fall of our current global civilizations, or are we merely the most recent upstart dominant species, destined to rise, fall, and disappear into the unimaginably vast history of life on planet Earth as a brief footnote in the multi-billion-year history of our planet? In their final projects, students will be asked to speculate about what the ultimate downfall of human civilization will be, and what will come after.

Evaluation Criteria

I. Discussion Forums (40% of the final grade): The meat and potatoes of any online class are the weekly discussion forums, and this class is no exception. These discussion forums replace the in-class discussion and interactions between students, their peers, and the instructor in a traditional classroom setting. This is where you will get to demonstrate to the instructor and the class at large what you have taken away from each week’s reading and assignments, as well as to engage in meaningful discussions of the material with your classmates. Each week, you will be required to: a) post a response to one of the instructor’s questions; b) post a thoughtful question about the week’s reading assignment; and c) respond to at least one of your fellow student’s questions and/or comment on their response to the instructor’s questions.

In your original response, I will expect to see:

1. a demonstration of critical thinking.
2. specific references to the reading.
3. reference to how this week’s material connects to previous weeks’ material and the topic as a whole.
4. original thoughts and ideas.
5. references to at least one independently acquired outside source, when pertinent or directed.
6. proper English written in complete and coherent sentences.

Each student’s initial discussion posts and questions will be due by Thursday night each week but are encouraged to be posted as early as possible so that the other students will have the time to read and respond to them. These responses must be posted no later than Saturday night so that they can be read and perhaps responded to by the end of Monday (our last day of each week’s class).

Points will automatically be deducted for late work unless the student has contacted me ahead of time and arranged to turn in their work late. If this process becomes problematic and late posts become the standard instead of the exception, I will announce a zero-tolerance policy for late work, and all late work will receive zeros from then on. This is not my preference; I prefer to be accommodating whenever possible, and I know we all have lives.

II. Connection Journals (20% of the final grade): In addition to weekly discussions, you will have the opportunity tojournalthroughout much of the course. These journals will be focused on the essential skill of “making connections.” You will be writing about how different aspects of the course relate to one another (readings, class discussions, videos, instructor feedback, outside research, etc.); about why the End of the World continues to fascinate us culturally; how the central ideas of the themes we are discussing connect to your own life; about how what you are learning in this course may be connecting to what you are learning in other courses or previous courses; and about the connections that you make that relate to the real world circumstances of your past, present, or future personal or professional lives. The key ingredients I will be looking for are the density of connections and good writing. Your job is to tell me what you are learning that I may not have set out to teach and to make yourself and me think. These Connection Journals are due by Monday night each week at the very latest. I will provide suggested journaling topics for each week that are pertinent to the themes or questions we will be discussing during that particular week, but you are always welcome and encouraged to come up with your own journal topics.

III. Independent Research Reports (20% of the final grade): There are far too many apocalyptic or "end of the world" books, stories, historical communities, films, video games, and other forms of media for us to be able to tackle anywhere close to all of them in a single semester. Therefore, rather than trying to create a reading list that we will all adhere to throughout the semester, each of you will also have the opportunity to pick an example from each literary subcategory and report back to the group about it. So while we will all read as a group the common myths, stories, short stories, and other materials, covering examples of our species' obsession with the end of the world, each student will have the opportunity to choose one work of religion or mythology, one work of apocalyptic fiction, one film or video game, and research one real-world historicapocalyptic cult, society, or movement to report on to the class.

A rubric will be provided to ensure that you cover all the essential material and elements in your summary and discussion of your chosen work. Your adherence to the rubrics provided for each topic will determine your final score for that particular week.

IV. Student Designed Post Apocalyptic Society (20% of the final grade): In addition to the more formal and analytical writing you will be exercising in your weekly posts and responses, your Connection Journals, and your independent research reports, you will also have the opportunity to explore the boundaries of the topic by designing your apocalyptic society. You will develop the structure of this society by determining what caused the downfall of this society, what comes after the collapse, and the ultimate fate of the earth after the collapse of this society.

The actual format that you chose to inform us about your apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic society is up to you. If you just want to write a factual “report” on your society, that is up to you, so long as you provide all of the elements required to satisfy the parameters of the assignment. If you chose to create your unique society as a work of creative fiction, that is also fine, so long as you meet the same parameters. Rubrics will be provided to make sure that you address all of the essential elements necessary for this assignment, but beyond satisfying all of the criteria, the form that your collapsing or emerging society takes will be up to you. You will be working on these designed cultures all semester, so by the end of the semester, they should be adequately complex, thoughtful, and detailed.

Important Note About Evaluation Criteria: The most important thing to remember is that I will make every effort to help you not only succeed at this class, but also to excel. Wherever possible I have tried to include multiple options in assignments so that you always feel like you are doing something relevant and interesting to demonstrate your learning. If something doesn’t make sense, if you are ever feeling overwhelmed by this class or events in your life, or if you can't log in and meet your deadlines for a particular week, tell me. I will make every effort to clarify the cloudy, help you with strategies to shoulder your workload and figure out ways to make sure that you can get everything you need out of this class. Never hesitate to email or phone if you need help. I will make every reasonable effort to help each and every one of you excel, dependent only on the time and effort you are willing to put in.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Each student’s initial discussion posts and questions will be due by Thursday night at midnight each week but are encouraged to be posted as early as possible so that the other students will have the time to read and respond to them. These initial posts should be a minimum of 2-3 substantial paragraphs long- aim for about the equivalent of a full page in a word document.

In addition, each student is required to meaningfully respond to the work of at least two of their classmates by no later than Saturday night at midnight and to try to keep up the thread of any discussions that result from their initial posts or their responses. Keep in mind that two responses are considered the minimum, and the more often and meaningfully you post, the better your discussion grade will be.

The hope is that these forums will mimic the in-class discussions that take place in a traditional classroom setting, in which students and the professor engage in natural conversations about the material being presented, and as such continue until those conversations are concluded. Imagine being in a classroom, engaged in a heated conversation about politics or religion, when suddenly everyone stops talking because they have expended their minimum number of required responses for the week. The more you engage with the material we are discussing, the better your grade for participation in the discussion forums will be.

These responses must be posted no later than Saturday night at midnight so that they can be read and perhaps responded to by the end of Monday (our last day of each week’s class). When choosing posts to respond to, posts that haven't received any comments or questions yet should be given preference so that everyone's work gets the time and attention they deserve.

Finally, each week by no later than Monday night at midnight you should also complete your weekly Connection Journal entry. Like the initial discussion posts, these weekly responses should also be at least 2-3 substantial paragraphs and about a page of text in a word document, but are far less formal than the discussion forums, usually relating to feelings, emotions, and ideas rather than direct facts from the materials, and are meant to show that you are really thinking about our reading and discussions and making a connection between the material we are exploring and other aspects of your life. They really are open "journal entries", like a personal diary, and are expected to be informal, thoughtful, and personal- the only people who will see them will be you and me, and I don't judge. Each week I will give a handful of suggestions about what you might talk about based on the material we are discussing or where we are as a class, but in the end, the topic is really up to you, so long as it relates to apocalyptic themes, the reading and media you are engaging with, or the assignments for the course. As with the other assignments, I will provide full details in the Weekly Connection Journal Assignment itself, as well as a rubric.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Each student’s initial discussion posts and questions will be due by Thursday night at midnight each week but are encouraged to be posted as early as possible so that the other students will have the time to read and respond to them. These responses must be posted no later than Saturday night at midnight so that they can be read and perhaps responded to by the end of Monday (our last day of each week’s class). Connection Journal assignments are due by midnight on Monday each week, as are the Final Research Project assignments in the weeks that they are due.

Points will automatically be deducted for late work unless the student has contacted me ahead of time and arranged to turn in their work late. I will not accept any work that is more than two weeks late unless a prior arrangement has been made or if the student is facing exceptional circumstances.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity