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HIS-30183 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Business, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences

For academic year: 2026/27 Last Updated: 16 September 2026

HIS-30183 - The Apocalypse will be Televised: Extinction on film since 1945
Coordinator: Benjamin Anderson Tel: +44 1782 7 33611
Lecture Time:
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2026/27

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2026/27

Since 1945, we have been fascinated and horrified by the threat of our own extinction, whether real or imaginary. And since the moment of the first nuclear bomb, those fears have been captured on film. In this module, you will focus on film as historical source to guide you through the debates and complexities of environmental crises, extinction panics, and cold war fears that have defined recent history, and their relationship to the real crises of your times.

Aims
This module aims to develop students' analytical skills at Level 6 with a focus on moving image sources, developing research questions, tackling difficult contemporary history challenges and understanding productive and critical use of LLMs. It does so by challenging students to historicise the extinction fears of the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries through film, a medium that immediately became a core means to portray and critique global disaster. Key sub-themes will be nuclear culture, environmental threat, post-apocalyptic imagination and critiques of the contemporary world.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Utilise LLM AI critically and accurately to improve the quality of presentations.: 1
Analyse moving images as a historical source.: 1,2
Explain the extinction fears of the 20th Century in ways that dismiss neither reality of threat, nor cultural context.: 1,2
Ask constructive, nuanced and critical questions of a research topic.: 1,2
Communicate complex ideas to a public audience in digital format.: 2

Study hours

18 hours seminar discussion/workshop, including presentation element.
4 hours assessment guidance.
2 hours asynchronous learning.
46 hours seminar discussion/workshop preparation
20 hours presentation preparation
60 hours Asynchronous structured assessment preparation.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Presentation weighted 40%
Presentation Skills (presentation + anonymous questions asked of others' presentations)
Students will be assessed on their presentation (15% of total module mark) and the quality of the questions asked of others' presentations (25% of total module mark). Students will be encouraged to utilise LLMs for their presentation, and will be marked on the assumption that they have been used, and on the basis of critical usage: this involves, for example, accurate and checked referencing, use of deep analysis of specific relevant examples including primary source material, and where relevant offering alternative conclusions as well as a reasoned analysis, in line with the generic marking criteria. Students will be taught these techniques in a dedicated session earlier on in the module, though they can also choose not to use AI at all - use of AI will be referenced via the Keele AI code of practice. Presentations will be 5 minutes per person, with students given individual marks for their sections, including how well they cohere with one another. The other marks will be based on questions the students ask of others' presentations in seminar. This will be done through an anonymous procedure: students write their questions and a short (max 50 words) justification on a slip of paper marked with their student number. These are then placed into a box and shuffled. The tutor then selects 2-3 interesting questions to ask the presenters. One student absence from this will automatically be tolerated per semester. Alternatively, students may complete a 100 word reflection on both seminar readings in lieu of each set of questions. Students will not be marked on their answers to questions asked (though questions will be put to them).

2: Project weighted 60%
Individual or group digital project (choice of podcast, documentary, exhibition) 60%
Students will have a choice of format for an online-ready assessment, depending on their preference and personal expertise. Online-ready means that it is ready to be placed online. The best from each year, with the students' approval, are available at www.keele.ac.uk/extinction. The option to produce a documentary will only be available to Film Studies students, since training in producing this will not be available on the module. Word count for digital exhibition: 1500 words, for individuals only. Podcast: 10 minutes per person, marks will be awarded for the quality of the individual contribution, identifiable via students' use of names; groups of 3-5. Documentary: 3 minutes per person, groups of 1-3. Students will be asked to summarise their contribution to a documentary in a 200 word reflection, to allow the awarding of individual marks. The topic will be devised in consultation with the seminar tutor, with guidelines set out in the project brief which may be altered slightly year to year, but must broadly discuss environmental themes on film since 1945. Students will choose which type of assessment they wish to do at the beginning of the module and will then be sorted into groups at random.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 16 September 2026