Why is the post-apocalyptic story so popular? We will read a range of postapocalyptic texts that depict catastrophes that dramatically change the world. One of the course’s major questions will be, why do we continually create narratives that imagine the end of the world? Does this genre have a history? What sorts of social and political issues does the apocalyptic novel attempt to confront or explain? What do the kinds of ends we imagine—climate disaster, pandemic, nuclear war—tell us about ourselves? Readings will include _The Road_, _Oryx and Crake_, _The Dog Stars_, Station Eleven_.