Throughout this course, students will examine multi-genre narratives about cataclysmic endings—big and small. While exploring what apocalyptic stories can teach us about our anxieties and desires within a historical and contemporary context, students will also examine how storytellers of the past and present have used apocalyptic narratives as way of reckoning with the violence of colonization, climate change, individual and communal loss, existential fear, and political uncertainty. Using this lens, students will delve into a diverse mix of creative and experimental works to craft their own narratives about endings, irrevocable change, and new beginnings. Students will engage with texts by Lesley Nneka Arimah, Carmen Maria Machado, Brenda Peynado, James Baldwin, Jordan Kisner, Elissa Washuta, Octavia E. Butler, Jenny Offill, Xuan Juliana Wang, Joy Harjo, and others.