On the Edge of apocalypse

the 2017 inagural csrcs symposium

february 9-11, 2017
The contours of apocalyptic thinking and movements are well traced. We are unsurprised by the unusual
political alliances, militaristic mindsets, and end-of-world expectations to which apocalyptic and millennial
thinking give rise. Still, as a mode of thinking and of rhetoric, apocalyptic discourse is nimble and often
adapting. Given this, we invite scholars from any discipline to explore with us the edges of apocalyptic thought
and practice. Where are the places that apocalyptic patterns, symbols, and rhetorics are unexpected and
unexplored, either in the present or in the past? How is apocalyptic discourse as lived or as an academic category
being deployed to new ends and in new ways?

On the Edge is a bi-annual symposium at Elon University that brings together scholars working at the
theoretical and methodological boundaries of those fields that have a stake in the critical analysis of religion
law, history, psychology, anthropology, literature/textual studies, philosophy, art history, political science, clas-
sics, and gender studies. On the Edge aims to exercise a self-conscious attention to methodological advances
that can be made through interdisciplinarity. Its proceedings contribute to a richly contextualized and multi-lay-
ered understanding of the role of religion in societies past, present, and future.

KeyNote Speaker: David Cook (Rice University)

Every Time a Horn Goes, Another Replaces It: Cyclicality and
Conquest in Muslim Apocalypticism

David B. Cook is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Rice Univer-

sity. He is author of Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic (2003), Contemporary
Muslim Apocalyptic Literature (2005), Understanding Jihad (2005),
Martyrdom in Islam (2007), and, with Olivia Allison, Understanding and Ad-
dressing Suicide Attacks (2007). He is currently working on two major proj-
ects: Mystical Radical Islam (an exploration of the magical and mystical re-
ligious transformation current in radical Islamic takfiri movements), and
Contemporary Shi`ite apocalyptic literature (from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon).

Convened by Elon folklorist Dr. Tom Mould and New Testament

scholar Dr. Lynn Huber, the 2017 symposium will examine new
approaches to a study of apocalyptic thinking across religious
traditions and across historical periods.