APOCALYPSE IN MEDIA, SCIENCE, AND CULTURE: Or Why the Apocalypse Replicates
Multmedia panel presentation featuring founding associates from the Center for Media and Destiny.
L/R: Osei Alleyne, Genevieve Gillespie, and Jarice Hansen during the Q&A.
Media: Click on these links: WHYY (NPR-Philadelphia) video interview with Barry Vacker and Genevieve Gillespie; Philadelphia Daily News.
Location: Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA
Date: December 21, 2012.
Time: Doors open at 6:00; presentation begins at 7:00.
Admission Price: $10. The price also includes admission to the "Apocalyptic Art" exhibit and "The End of the World Party."
Refreshments: Provided by Hendrick's Gin, Philadelphia Brewing Company and Commonwealth Ciders.
Barry and the Center offer much thanks to Eric Bresler, director of PhilaMOCA, for his support of this panel.
WHY SO MANY DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS IN OUR CULTURE?
Think you are immune to apocalyptic thinking? It's not only Mayan prophecy delusions. We have fiscal cliffs and economic meltdowns, terror wars and nuclear terrorism, hurricanes and tsunamis, pandemics and contagions, creationism and fundamentalism, global warming and ecological destruction, and endless media and movies celebrating doom -- what do all these scenarios say about our worldviews, our ideologies, our sense of meaning and purpose in the cosmos? You might be very surprised?
Join the following panelists in a mind-expanding discussion of what these apocalypse mean about our future and our destiny.
Jarice Hanson, Professor, The University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• Jarice is also on the Board of Directors of the Center for Media and Destiny
• "It's the End of the World Again: Arts, Culture, and Science"
• View/download PDF of powerpoint
Osei Alleyne, PhD student, University of Pennsylvania
• Osei is also a Founding Associate of the Center for Media and Destiny
• "Apoclaypto and Apocalypse Now"
• View/download PDF of powerpoint
Genevieve Gillespie, student, Temple University
• Genevieve is also the Associate Director of Events for the Center for Media and Destiny
• "Spaceship Earth in a Violent Universe: Apocalyptic Scenarios in Science Television Documentaries"
• View/download PDF of powerpoint
Barry Vacker, Associate Professor, Temple University
• "Facing the End of the World in Three Films: What Should We Do?"
• View/download PDF of powerpoint
Jarice Hanson explains how the love of order fuels apocalyptic thinking.
Osei Alleyne explores Maya sacrifices in Apocalypto as a metaphor for contemporary moral apocalypses.
Genevieve Gillespie asks why TV science documentaries celebrate the destruction of Earth.
Barry Vacker explains that the Mayan "prophecy" functions as a cover to mask the many other apocalypses humans face (and can prevent if they choose to).