At the End of the World Newsletter – 15 March 2025
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This is the 9th newsletter for the At the End of the World research program, housed at Lund University. It is the first newsletter from our third year of activity. If you’re receiving this email, it’s because you’ve subscribed to our mailing list. Below, we’ll fill you in on some upcoming events and also what we've been up to since the last newsletter. |
Two upcoming webinars |
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The Last Human Being and the Modern Apocalyptic Imaginary, 16:00–17:30, 29 April 2025Abstract: The last man is an apocalyptic figure that emerged during the tumultuous years around 1800 in writers such as Jean-Baptiste Cousin de Grainville and Mary Shelley. Shelley's novel The Last Man (1826) in particular created a model for depicting the one who remains after a devastating catastrophe. Starting from The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination, Eileen M. Hunt will discuss the meaning and impact of Shelley's story alongside postapocalyptic imaginaries in modernity. This webinar will take place on Zoom on Tuesday, 29 April 2025, from 16:00 until 17:30 (Swedish time). PLEASE NOTE: Our protocols for webinar attendance have changed. You must register in advance to attend this webinar. Please fill out this very short form, and a link to the Zoom webinar will be emailed to you at the email address you supply about 24 hours before the webinar begins: https://forms.gle/iH9jGyJNUQQhAzmS7. We look forward to seeing you there! Eileen M. Hunt is professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame. Her trilogy on Mary Shelley and political philosophy includes Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child: Political Philosophy in ‘Frankenstein’ (2018), Artificial Life After Frankenstein (2021), and The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination (2024), all published by Pennsylvania University Press. She has also published edited and co-edited books on Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft. Torbjörn Gustafsson Chorell is professor of intellectual history at the Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University, and a member of the End of the World research program. Sven Anders Johansson is professor in literary studies at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University. |
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With God on Our Side: Apocalyptic Motifs and the Struggle for Social Justice, 16:00-17:30, 12 May 2025(This webinar had originally been scheduled for March 2025, but it needed to be rescheduled due to a family emergency. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.) Abstract: The apocalyptic literary genre, as well as its images and motifs, have been wielded by theologians and political actors to help achieve a variety of goals. What is it about apocalypse – as a genre, as a constellation of images and ideas – that makes it so ripe for social and political struggle? This webinar features Lisa M. Bowens, Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. Taking her 2023 article “Martin Luther King, Jr. and Apocalyptic Thought” as our point of departure, this webinar will explore some of the ways apocalypse can either motivate or stymie political action. This webinar will take place on Zoom on Monday, 12 May 2025, from 16:00 until 17:30 (Swedish time). PLEASE NOTE: You must register in advance to attend this webinar. Please fill out this very short form, and a link to the Zoom webinar will be emailed to you at the email address you supply about 24 hours before the webinar begins: https://forms.gle/iH9jGyJNUQQhAzmS7. Lisa M. Bowens is Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary (USA). Her research interests include Paul and apocalyptic literature, Pauline anthropology, Pauline epistemology, discipleship in the gospels, African American Pauline Hermeneutics, and New Testament exegesis and interpretation. Patrik Fridlund is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion and a senior lecturer at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies. Aaron James Goldman is a research fellow in Philosophy of Religion at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies. |
Recent publications and media appearances by our team |
Mårten Björk authored “Utopin som Noahs ark: Ernst Bloch och bevarandets apokalyptik,” an introduction to the Swedish translation of Bloch's Spirit of Utopia. Natalie Bloch gave a paper presentation titled “The Psychedelic Temple: Re-imagining Ancient Jewish Temple Space through Psychedelic Aesthetics” for the 2025 Psychedelics Intersections conference at Harvard Divinity School's Center for the Study of World Religions. The panel, including her presentation, is viewable on Youtube. David Dunér was part of a team that authored an article for the book Mars and the Earthlings: A Realistic View on Mars Exploration and Settlement in the series Space and Society, titled “Mars Historical and Ethical Context: Past, Present, and Imagination.” Dunér was also a co-author on the piece “Mars in Science Fiction and Our Perceptions of the Red Planet” for the same volume. Aaron James Goldman recorded a short lecture video for the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies' Religion and Dates series (eds. Hege Markussen and Daniel Strömgren) titled “January 6: Capitol Attack.” Torbjörn Gustafsson Chorell published an open-access piece titled “Våldets historia och den nya världen: Selma Lagerlöf, Elin Wägner och det eskatologiskt-apokalyptiska historiemedvetandet” in the 2024 Tidskrift för svensk och annan nordisk litteratur145. Joel Kuhlin recorded a short lecture video for the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies' Religion and Dates series (eds. Hege Markussen and Daniel Strömgren) titled "21a februari: Malcolm X dödsdag." Blaženka Scheuer was interviewed by Sanna Trygg for the piece “Is the end of the world nigh?” It was published on 8 January 2025 in Apropå. Johannes Stripple was part of a panel on 3 March 2025 titled “Debatt i Lund: Behövs utopier?” that can be viewed on Youtube. Cecilia Wassén authored an open-access article titled “Purity, Impurity, and In-Between” for a volume titled Purity in Ancient Judaism: Text, Contexts, and Concepts. |
Other Upcoming Events |
On 2 April 2025, for the Society for Biblical Literature Global Virtue Meeting, Joel Kuhlin will give a paper presentation titled “The Book of Revelation and the Apocalyptic Imaginary of Malcolm X: Revolutionary Rhetoric 1963–65.” On 2 April 2025, Tormod Johansen will participate in a Swedish-language panel at the University of Gothenburg's Vetenskapsfestivalen about the role of philosophy and theology in law. On 2 April 2025 at 17:00, Tobias Hägerland will also give a presentation at Vetenskapsfestivalen titled, “Mellan apokalyps och utopi - framtider då och nu.” Join to discuss apocalyptic and utopian notions of the future at Stadsbiblioteket, Gothenburg. 29 April 2025, 13:00–14:30, Sven Anders Johansson, Professor of Literature at Mid Sweden University, will give a guest seminar at Lund University for At the End of the World titled Resentment, Dialectics, Ambivalence: On the Possibility of Critical Thinking Today. If you are interested to attend and are not a student or staff member at Lund University or part of At the End of the World, please email aaron.goldman[at]ctr.lu.se to let him know you would like to come. On 9 May 2025 Amanda Lagerkvist will give a keynote lecture titled “Technology at the End Times” at the 404 Not Found conference (8–10 May 2025) at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. On 16 May 2025, Aaron James Goldman will give a paper presentation at University of Southampton connecting Kierkegaard's epistemology to apocalyptic conspiracy theories at a workshop titled Epistemological Themes in Kierkegaard's Climacus Works. For the second annual Nordic Network of Conspiracy Theory Research (CONNOR) conference in Copenhagen on 22–23 May 2025, Patrik Fridlund and Mia-Marie Hammarlin will give a paper presentation titled “Conspiracy Theories and Apocalypticism.” Goldman will also give a paper at the CONNOR conference (22–23 May 2025) titled "A defense of a self-reflexive, etic definition of ‘conspiracy theory.’" This fall, on 1 October 2025, Tobias Hägerland has invited our research group – with some limited slots available to the public – to an afternoon in Gothenburg. This event, titled Apokalyptik i konst och litteratur, will feature a visit to Gothenburg's art museum (fee: 70 kr) at 13:00 and a seminar – featuring Hannah Strømmen and Amanda Lagerkvist – at 15:15 about Karl Ove Knausgård's Morgenstjernen. The event will be in Swedish. Advance registration is required via email to tobias.hagerland[at]lir.gu.se. |
AnnouncementsSuccessful grant application for collaboration On 13 March 2025 Formas announced that it has awarded Johannes Stripple nearly 2 000 000 kr for a research communication grant titled Från kaos till kreativitet – unga utforskar apokalypsen på scenen (From Chaos to Creativity – Young People Explore the Apocalypse on the Stage). This funding will support a multi-year collaboration between At the End of the World and Riksteatern. More details about this collaboration will be shared in the future. For now, the warmest congratulations (and appreciation) goes out to Johannes for his hard work! Course signup deadline approaching 17 March 2025 is the signup deadline for Tobias Hägerland's summer course (in Swedish) at the University of Gothenburg: “Apokalypsen i text och tolkning,” 7,5 hp. This course will be given summer 2025. Course description: Global pandemi, klimatförändringar och auktoritär maktutövning – vår tid saknar inte fenomen som bidrar till undergångsstämning. Ofta talar vi om sådana katastrofscenarier som apokalyptiska. Men ordet apokalyps syftar ursprungligen på en uppenbarelse, ett avslöjande av en djupare mening bakom skrämmande händelser i naturen och den mänskliga världen. I den här kursen studerar vi västerlandets mest kända apokalyptiska text, Uppenbarelseboken, tillsammans med mindre bekanta antika skrifter som Första Henoksboken, Adams och Evas liv samt Sefanjas apokalyps. Vad betydde Uppenbarelsebokens ibland groteska bildspråk för dess första mottagare och hur har det påverkat teologi, politik och populärkultur genom historien fram till idag? Vilken roll spelar denna skrift när människor söker efter en mening i samtidens ödesmättade dramatik?
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Program websiteAs a reminder, the program’s website is located at https://www.endoftheworld.lu.se/. The website logs each newsletter. |