Townsend Center for the Humanities

Mike Davis gives us an apocalyptic view of the filmic rendering of Los Angeles, informed by representations of race and viewed from cultural and literary standpoints. He points out how much of what we experience as "popular" culture--the film and television industries, for instance--is implicated in the patterns of oppression endemic to our society. His presentation is followed by commentaries by Kerwin Klein, who has a different history of apocalyptic fiction to examine, and David Reid, who takes Davis' fascination with film farther in commentary on this millennium's upcoming close. Timothy J. Clark, Professor of Art History, introduces the publication.