Calendar

PaRT 1 / THe DiSaSTeR NoVeL

Tuesday, September 1

  • Introduction

Thursday, September 3

  • Sontag, Susan. “The Imagination of Disaster.” Against Interpretation. New York: Picador, 2001. 209-225. (e-reserve)
  • Weisman, Alan. The World without Us. New York: Thomas Dunne Books-St. Martin’s Press, 2007. 15-39. (e-reserve)
  • Disaster Ephemera

Tuesday, September 8

  • Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Lucifer’s Hammer, pp. 1-129

Thursday, September 10

Tuesday, September 15

  • Lucifer’s Hammer, pp. 198-320

Thursday, September 17

Tuesday, September 22

  • Lucifer’s Hammer, pp. 403-525
  • du Bois, W.E.B. “The Comet.” Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil. Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920. 253-273. (Blackboard)

Thursday, September 24

  • Lucifer’s Hammer, pp. 526-629

PaRT 2 / THe PoSTMoDeRN DiSaSTeR NoVeL

Tuesday, September 29

  • Don DeLillo, White Noise, pp. 1-105
  • Cockburn, Alexander. “Death Rampant! Readers Rejoice.” Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off. Ed. Richard Pollack. Random House, 1975. 3-17. (Blackboard)

Thursday, October 1

  • White Noise, pp. 107-163

Tuesday, October 6

  • White Noise, pp. 165-271
  • Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Illuminations: Essays and Reflections. New York: Schocken Books, 1986. 217-51. (Blackboard)

Thursday, October 8

  • White Noise, pp. 272-326
  • Don DeLillo, “Silhouette City: Hitler, Manson and the Millennium” (e-reserve)

PaRT 3 / aPoCaLYPTiC JouRNeYS

Tuesday, October 13

  • No Class: Monday/Tuesday Switch Day

Thursday, October 15

  • Parable of the Sower, chapters 1-10

Tuesday, October 20

  • Parable of the Sower, chapters 11-20

Thursday, October 22

Tuesday, October 27

  • Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 1-79
  • Blogging Audit Due

Thursday, October 29

  • The Road, pp. 80-167
  • Baum, Andrew. “Toxins, Technology, and Natural Disasters.” Cataclysms, Crises, and Catastrophes: Psychology in Action. Ed. Gary R. VandenBos & Brenda K. Bryant. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1987. 31-47. (Blackboard)

Tuesday, November 3

  • The Road, pp. 168-287

Thursday, November 5

  • Continue discussion of The Road

PaRT 4 / THe DiSaSTeR oF HiSToRY

Tuesday, November 10

  • Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, pp. 1-85
  • Van der Kolk, Bessel A, and Alexander C McFarlane. “The Black Hole of Trauma.” Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society. Ed. Lars Weisaeth, Bessel A. van der Kolk, & Alexander C. McFarlane. New York: Guilford Press, 1996. 3-23 (Blackboard)
  • In class links: NASA’s FAQ on 2012

Thursday, November 12

Tuesday, November 17

Thursday, November 19

  • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, pp. 260-326

Tuesday, November 24

  • Paper Proposals and Annotated Bibliographies Due

Thursday, November 26

  • Thanksgiving

Tuesday, December 1

Thursday, December 3

  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, pp. 76-165

Tuesday, December 8

  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, pp. 166-261

Thursday, December 10

  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, pp. 262-335

Tuesday, December 15

  • Final Paper Due