At the End of the World Newsletter – 15 June 2026

This is the 14th newsletter for the At the End of the World research program, based at Lund University. It is the second newsletter from our fourth 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.

Gendering Apocalypse: Death and Desire as Central Themes of Apocalyptic Texts and Their Modern (Mis)Uses

16:00-17:30, 20 October 2026, Stockholm time (Zoom)

Drawing on Tina Pippin’s influential study Death and Desire (1992), this webinar explores the gendered dynamics of apocalyptic literature. In her work, Pippin foregrounds the intertwined themes of death and desire, demonstrating how they operate in ways that particularly affect women. Topically, in the Apocalypse of John, the few female figures, whether cast as virtuous or corrupt, are primarily configured as objects of male desire and volition rather than as subjects in their own right. Building on this framework, the webinar examines how apocalyptic texts from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament continue to impact women and groups historically exposed to marginalization. It further considers how these texts are strategically (mis)used in contemporary contexts, focusing on examples from the United States and Europe, wherein White Christian conservative and far-right actors mobilize apocalyptic rhetoric.

The webinar will feature Tina Pippin engaging in conversation with Ov Cristian Norocel and Blaženka Scheuer.

Tina Pippin is the Wallace M. Alston Professor of Bible and Religion at Agnes Scott College. Her interests include the Bible and culture, women and religion, ethics, religion and social justice, science and religion, human rights education, apocalypticism, religion and postmodernism, and feminist ethics. Pippin is the author of Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John (1992), Apocalyptic Bodies: The Biblical End of the World in Text and Image (1999), and The Actual Jesus (2025).

Ov Cristian Norocel is Docent and Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies at Lund University. He deploys critical and intersectional perspectives to study the radical-right populist and far-right construction and maintenance of power hierarchies. For At the End of the World, Norocel investigates the role of gender and sexuality in reactionary political mobilization, focusing on how representations of apocalypse are deployed to consolidate political power in opposition to marginalized groups.

Blaženka Scheuer, Docent and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Lund University, conducts research that focuses on three main areas: prophetic texts of the Hebrew Bible, interpretation of the narratives of the Hebrew Bible in early Jewish and Christian traditions, and the relationship between contemporary narratives about artificial intelligence and narratives about creation of humans in the book of Genesis. For At the End of the World, Scheuer explores how apocalyptic imaginary of the Hebrew Bible and early Jewish literature shaped conceptions of gender and otherness.

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.

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!

Mårten Björk authored an article titled “‘Deliver me from my necessities’: R. A. Markus and Erik Peterson on the End of Law” for Political Theology. 

Mårten Björk and Tormod Johansen published a book titled The End of Law: Political Theology and the Crisis of Sovereignty with Routledge.

Natalie Bloch published a chapter titled “The Psychedelic Temple – Re-imagining ancient Jewish Temple Space through Psychedelic Aesthetics” in Psychedelic Intersections: 2025 Conference Anthology, edited by Jeffrey Breau and Paul Gillis-Smith.

Allan Burnett authored a piece titled “Media Philosophy, Postmodern Eschatology and Theological Starting Points, c.1960–Present” for Ulrich Schmiedel, Ola Sigurdson & Jayne Svenungsson, eds., Engaging Werner G. Jeanrond’s Theological Thinking: Starting Points. 

Patrik Fridlund authored two popular pieces: ‘Populism är en giftig idé’ for Opulens and ‘Idén om en etnisk stat — och konsekvenser både här och där’ for Nya Argus 119:1–2.

Tobias Hägerland was interviewed by Hanna Erlingson and Janna Roosch for the podcast Ett HUM om romarriket | Humanistiska fakulteten, Göteborgs universitet under the title "Undergång, odjurets tal och kejsare Nero – om romarriket i Uppenbarelseboken" [Destruction, the number of the beast, and Emperor Nero – on the Roman Empire in the Book of Revelation].

Jayne Svenungsson wrote a chapter titled “Beginning Anew, or Dreaming of ‘a Europe to Come’” for Ulrich Schmiedel, Ola Sigurdson & Svenungsson, eds., Engaging Werner G. Jeanrond’s Theological Thinking.