Event Title

Apocalypse Contagion: Promises of a Not so Distant Future

Location

Hart 113

Start Time

11-5-2017 10:10 AM

End Time

11-5-2017 10:25 AM

Description

Modern media has shown a remarkable obsession with end of the world scenarios. Two wildly popular television shows, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones each approach the apocalypse from a unique perspective, with The Walking Dead imagining a dead word overrun with contagion and desperate survivors. Game of Thrones, with its ever popular tagline “Winter is Coming,” imagines a colossal build up of a fantasy world’s armies ready to battle as the looming threat of the end of the world, in the form of “White Walkers,” promises a devastating end to all life.

This presentation examines the modern obsession with apocalyptic narratives and how they have proliferated across a multitude of media. Using the two media narratives referenced above, the presentation demonstrates how these new apocalypses have evolved from both religious and scientific narratives that have long been a part of American culture.

Comments

Moderator: Joseph Seggio

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May 11th, 10:10 AM May 11th, 10:25 AM

Apocalypse Contagion: Promises of a Not so Distant Future

Hart 113

Modern media has shown a remarkable obsession with end of the world scenarios. Two wildly popular television shows, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones each approach the apocalypse from a unique perspective, with The Walking Dead imagining a dead word overrun with contagion and desperate survivors. Game of Thrones, with its ever popular tagline “Winter is Coming,” imagines a colossal build up of a fantasy world’s armies ready to battle as the looming threat of the end of the world, in the form of “White Walkers,” promises a devastating end to all life.

This presentation examines the modern obsession with apocalyptic narratives and how they have proliferated across a multitude of media. Using the two media narratives referenced above, the presentation demonstrates how these new apocalypses have evolved from both religious and scientific narratives that have long been a part of American culture.