The End of the World As They Know It
Conference will ponder where
we’re headed in the new millennium
 Sept. 21-24 |
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Films, exhibition, music lend perspective to millennium conference
In conjunction with the conference, a series of films with apocalyptic themes will be presented in 4070 Vilas Hall.
In addition to the films, Memorial Library will exhibit some of its holdings related to the millennium and apocalyptic visions. The display will premiere Sept. 22 on the library’s ninth floor. A reception will open the exhibit at 4:15 p.m. On Sept. 24, a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” will be presented at 7 p.m. in Mills Concert Hall. |
In the poetic world view of T.S. Eliot, the end will not come with a bang but rather, a whimper.
Calvin DeWitt, professor of environmental studies, finds Eliot’s scenario potentially quite accurate.
“If we look at the operation of things in the natural world, and the incidence of steady human degradation of them, ‘whimper’ is a good choice of words,” he says.
DeWitt will lead a workshop on environmental factors in the coming millennium. His workshop will be part of an international symposium, “Waiting in Fearful Hope: Approaching the New Millennium,” to be held Sept. 21-24. Participants will use the four days to investigate what lessons we might draw from the past and their implications for the coming age.
DeWitt says he favors combining the study of natural science with history to provide us with a precise picture of the deteriorating biosphere. “The way the world is now is thought to be the way it always was,” he says. “We need a much longer perspective so we can compare what the world was like billions of years ago and what it’s like now.”
DeWitt says he doesn’t think the planet will meet its end suddenly or dramatically, via, say, a runaway comet or global flood. But Paul Boyer, Merle Curti Professor of History and a student of 20th century prophetic belief, will examine the pop culture presentation of just such sudden and conclusive catastrophes in a lecture at the symposium.
“It is important to pay attention to this subject, bizarre as it might seem, because it pervades contemporary culture, especially as the portentous year 2000 approaches,” says Boyer, whose work focuses on wholesale demise brought on through social and political channels.
“Such works also have shaped, and continue to shape, the way people view current events, from the Cold War struggle and the nuclear arms race to contemporary issues and concerns,” including environmental hazards and the AIDS epidemic to the rise of the global economy, the European Union, Islamic fundamentalism and international terrorism, he says.
Conceived and organized through the cooperative efforts by the university and members of the larger community, the millennium conference also will provide an opportunity for participants with different interests and representing various disciplines to exchange views, organizers say. Lecturers and workshop leaders will come from the fields of history, literature, the natural and social sciences.
In addition, two special evensong services are scheduled, sponsored by the Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic-United Methodist Commission in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. In keeping with UW–Madison’s status as a publicly funded institution, no university-controlled funds will support the services.
For registration information, call Connie Ott, conference registrar, at (608) 798-3688. For more information about the conference, contact Brent Christianson, (608)257-7178/prbrentc@aol.com.