At the End of the World Newsletter – 15 September 2025
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This is the 11th newsletter for the At the End of the World research program, housed at Lund University. It is the third newsletter from our third year of activity. If you’re receiving this email, it’s because you’ve subscribed to our mailing list. Below, we’ll fill you in on some upcoming events and also what we've been up to since the last newsletter. |
Upcoming webinars |
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Technology and the Apocalyptic Imaginary: Understanding AI Through the Lens of Religion, 16:00–17:30, 7 October 2025Abstract: What can we learn about the apocalyptic imaginary through probing how AI and religion intersect? Why is new technology entangled with religious and eschatological thought? This webinar is a conversation between Professor Dr. Beth Singler (University of Zürich), an anthropologist of religion and author and editor of several books on AI and religion, and Amanda Lagerkvist from At the End of the World, Professor of media and communication studies and researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research on Religion and Society at Uppsala University. This webinar will take place on Zoom on Tuesday, 7 October 2025, from 16:00 until 17:30 (Stockholm time). PLEASE NOTE: Our protocols for webinar attendance have changed. You must register in advance to attend this webinar. Please fill out this very short form, and a link to the Zoom webinar will be emailed to you at the email address you supply about 24 hours before the webinar begins: https://forms.gle/z5vGtARJ1Fzd6shV6. We look forward to seeing you there! Beth Singler is Assistant Professor in Digital Religion(s) at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where she is also the Co-Director of the University's Research Priority Programme (URPP) in Digital Religion(s), a member of the Directorate of the Digital Society Initiative, and co-lead of the Media Existential Encounters and Evolving Technology Lab. Amanda Lagerkvist is Professor of Media and Communication Studies and researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research on Religion and Society at Uppsala University. Aaron James Goldman will chair the webinar. He is a research fellow in Philosophy of Religion at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies. Image credit: Stephanie Harlacher. Photograph. 18 October 2020. “White laptop computer on table.” https://unsplash.com/photos/white-laptop-computer-on-table-dfgTcDNlAzY. Custom license: https://unsplash.com/license. |
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End of the World?: John's Revelation & the Christian Understanding of Human Telos in Late Antiquity, 16:00–17:30, 9 December 2025Abstract: Like adherents of many ancient philosophical systems, early Christians who were educated and chose their beliefs and way of life—as many early Christian theologians and writers were and did—held to a particular vision of the purpose of life. That is to say, they had a common view of the end, or telos, toward which they believed life was to be lived, and a particular vision of how that end was to be achieved through their personal choices, spiritual practice, and social existence. This is transparent, if not often observed or remarked upon today, in virtually all late antique Christian literature and much of its monumental art. It is especially apparent in the texts and artistic productions in which the final chapters of the New Testament's book of Revelation are contemplated. In this presentation, we explore the connection between (1) early Christian teleology and (2) its contemplation of the purpose of human life and existence as it appears in their reading of the Apocalypse and its last scenes. In light of this exploration, we challenge the common notion that Revelation is first and foremost about the “end of the world.” If the first several centuries of readers are correct, it is instead about quite another end: humanity's proper end or telos and the purpose of the entire cosmic order. This webinar takes place, 16:00–17:30, Stockholm time (Zoom), on 9 December 2025. PLEASE NOTE: Our protocols for webinar attendance have changed. You must register in advance to attend this webinar. Please fill out this very short form, and a link to the Zoom webinar will be emailed to you at the email address you supply about 24 hours before the webinar begins: https://forms.gle/z5vGtARJ1Fzd6shV6. We look forward to seeing you there! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nathan Betz is a DFG Eigene Stelle post-doctoral fellow at Regensburg, where he writes on the literary and artistic reception of the New Jerusalem of John’s Revelation from the fourth to the seventh century. His monograph, City of Gods: The New Jerusalem of John’s Revelation in Early Christianity, was published earlier this year by Brill. Katarina Pålsson is a researcher in Church History at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. Her research interests include early Christian asceticism and eschatology. Aaron James Goldman will chair the webinar. He is a research fellow in Philosophy of Religion at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies. Image credit: Beatus de Morgan, commantaire sur l'apocalypse de Beatus de Liébana. Illuminated manuscript. c. 940–945 ce. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maius_-_Commentary_on_the_Apocalypse_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg. Copyright-free (public domain). |
Recent publications and media appearances by our team |
Mårten Björk and Tormod Johansen, on 4 September 2025, participated in a web-based seminar at Emory University titled “On the Nature and End of Law: Theological, Philosophical and Juridical Discourses.” A video is set to be uploaded to Emory's Youtube channel. Natalie Bloch authored a piece titled “The Hypertemple in Mind: God's Voice Rebooted in the Temple Scroll” for the Bloomsbury volume Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem. Marie Cronqvist was interviewed on the 80 year commemorance of the Hiroshima bombing, ”Var USAs atombombningar ett krigsbrott?”, Swedish Television (SVT), 6 August 2025. David Dunér wrote a popular piece titled “Extraterrestrial Concepts of Life” for Eurozine. Duner also contributed to an episode of P3 Historia for Sveriges Radio titled “Carl von Linné – ett blomstrande snille.” Torbjörn Gustafsson Chorell has authored a book for Bloomsbury titled Social Bonds and Historical Time. Tobias Hägerland and Cecilia Wassén contributed to a podcast episode by Pistis Productions titled “Jesús, El Profeta Apocalíptico.” Blaženka Scheuer authored ”I begynnelsen fanns mörker: en studie av ondska i Gamla testamentet” as part of the conference book for the clergy convention at the diocese of Strängnäs in 2025. Scheuer also authored ”Om ondska i Gamla testamentet” in Portalen, Strängnäs stiftstidning nr. 3, 2025. Jayne Svenungsson authored an article titled “Prophetic Political Theology: Daniel Bensaïd’s Alternative Radicalism” for Scandinavian Jewish Studies. Svenungsson also wrote a piece titled “Uppenbarelseboken: profetia om framtiden eller politisk motståndslitteratur?” for Fronesis. Cecilia Wassén published a piece for “Sticket” in Fokus titled ”Jesus med röd ros? Knappast.” |
Upcoming Lectures with Christine Helmer and Robert Orsi |
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Helmer: "Sacramental Religion in Apocalyptic Times": 10:00-12:00, 23 September 2025. Orsi: “The Gods of the Contemporary Far-Right”: 13:00–15:00, 23 September 2025. You are welcome to attend these lectures by prominent Professors of Religious Studies from Northwestern University (US) on 23 September 2025. When ready, abstracts will be found on this page. We hope to see you there! Christine Helmer is the Peter B. Ritzma Chair of Humanities at Northwestern University (USA), where she is also Professor of German and Religious Studies. Helmer is a theologian of Christianity, with a special focus on German intellectual history from the sixteenth century to today, including the theology and philosophy of Luther and Schleiermacher. She is the author of five books: The Trinity and Martin Luther (1999); Theology and the End of Doctrine (2014); How Luther Became the Reformer (2019); A Constructive Theology in Conversation with Christians in Tainan (2020); and (with Amy Carr), Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice (2023). Robert Orsi is Grace Craddock Nagle Chair of Catholic Studies at Northwestern University (USA), where he is also Professor of Religious Studies, History, and American Studies. Orsi studies modern and contemporary religion, with a special focus on Catholic practices and ideas, from both historical and ethnographic perspectives. He also researches and writes on theory and method in the study of religion. His books include The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880-1959 (3rd ed., 2010); Thank You, Saint Jude: Women’s Devotion to the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes (1996); Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them (2005); the edited volume, Gods of the City: Religion and the American Urban Landscape (1999); and History and Presence (2016). |
Other Upcoming Events |
For 23–24 September 2025, David Dunér has co-organized a conference at Lund University titled Cognition and Evolution in Social and Historical Research. On 1 October 2025, Tobias Hägerland has organized, in association with the University of Gothenburg's Institute for Literature, History of Ideas and Religion, an event titled “Apokalyptik i Konst och Litteratur.” The event will include speakers Mia-Marie Hammarlin (moderator), Camilla Brudin Borg, Anton Jansson, Yvonne Leffler, and Hannah Strømmen. You can download a program for the event. Later that same day, Jayne Svenungsson will participate in a panel discussion, 18:00–19:00, at the art museum in Gothenburg titled “Apokalypsens psykologi och symbolik.” On 10 October 2025, Max Liljefors will be at an invited speaker for a symposium on human flourishing at Uppsala University. From 16 to 17 October 2025, Joel Kuhlin will participate and present at a workshop at Lund University for the affiliated Scriptures & Secularism project titled “Bibles in Digital Culture: Methods, Approaches, Practices.” Also 16–17 October 2025, Allan Burnett and Marie Cronqvist are arranging a panel on apocalyptic imaginaries at the conference “The Power of the Humanities in Academy and Society” in Norrköping. On 6–7 November 2025, Jonathan Morgan and Aaron James Goldman will present at a conference at Lund University titled “‘Truthers’ and ‘Truth Defenders.’” Their presentation is titled “Beyond the facts of the matter: Addressing Socialstyrelsen’s efforts to counter the LVU-kampanjen conspiracy theory.” 6–8 November 2025, Jayne Svenungsson and Cecilia Wassén will both present at a conference at Universität Basel titled ‘Ende oder Wende?’ Apokalyptische Diskurse in Antike und Gegenwart. Wassén's talk, on the first day, is titled "Der apokalyptische Jesus." Svenungsson's, on the second day, is titled “Apocalypticism Today Challenges for a Responsible Theology.” At the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting in Boston, 22–25 November 2025, Tobias Hägerland will be a book review panelist for T. C. Schmidt's Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ. |
AnnouncementsCongratulations to Tobias Hägerland! In July, Tobias was elected a member of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, a selective society of New Testament scholars. He now also serves on the editorial boards of Journal for the Study of the New Testament and New Testament Studies (as of next year). Course offerings Max Liljefors, in his capacity as coordinator of ERiCi (Existential Resilience Collaboration Initiative), Lund University, is organizing the new X-course KOVF10 Arts, Aesthetics, and Existential Resilience, for fall 2025. Blaženka Scheuer organized – with participation by several members of At the End of the World's team – an online course titled “Vid världens slut: Apokalyptiska föreställningar i historia och nutid.” Cecilia Wassén is teaching a new web course titled “Apokalyptik i Bibeln och idag” (5RG316 HT2025) for Uppsala University. |
Program websiteAs a reminder, the program’s website is located at https://www.endoftheworld.lu.se/. The website logs each newsletter. |