Writing Apocalypse: Histories and Speculation

Undergraduate | 2026

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Mode icon
Mode
Mode
Your studies will be on-campus, and may include some online delivery
On campus
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Area/Catalogue
CREA 2009
Course ID icon
Course ID
205865
Campus icon
Campus
Adelaide City Campus
Level of study
Level of study
Undergraduate
Unit value icon
Unit value
6
Course owner
Course owner
Adelaide University
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Course level
2
Work Integrated Learning course
Work Integrated Learning course
No
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Inbound study abroad and exchange
Inbound study abroad and exchange
The fee you pay will depend on the number and type of courses you study.
No
University-wide elective icon
University-wide elective course
No
Single course enrollment
Single course enrolment
No

Course overview

This course introduces students to narratives of apocalypse: from sacred literatures, through representations of genocide and extinctions, to science fiction and the speculative. Students will be tasked with thinking deeply and critically on the moral and aesthetic aspects of creative engagement with communal, ethnic and planetary catastrophe. The course will present practical techniques for the writing of historical narratives, as well as science and speculative fiction, and will encourage creative responses to issues both past and prescient, such as climate change, technological revolution and disaster, migrations, and the future of humanity.

Course learning outcomes

  • Confidently read, understand and appreciate a range of contemporary literary texts and the contexts of their production.
  • Begin to demonstrate an awareness of how to frame a research problem and devise ways of addressing it in the context of creative writing.
  • Prepare and deliver polished and carefully edited samples of creative writing (through a series of exercises and drafts).
  • Critically evaluate their own and others’ written materials.
  • Engage productively and respectfully with their peers.

Prerequisite(s)

N/A

Corequisite(s)

N/A

Antirequisite(s)

  • must not have completed CRWR2015 Writing Apocalypse - Histories and Speculation at the University of Adelaide

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The Student Contribution amount displayed below is for students commencing a new program from 2021 onwards. If you are continuing in a program you commenced prior to 1 January 2021, or are commencing an Honours degree relating to an undergraduate degree you commenced prior to 1 January 2021, you may be charged a different Student Contribution amount from the amount displayed below. Please check the Student Contribution bands for continuing students here. If you are an international student, or a domestic student studying in a full fee paying place, and are continuing study that you commenced in 2025 or earlier, your fees will be available here before enrolments open for 2026.