
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Hurricanes. Earthquakes. The fiscal cliff. Unrest in Gaza. Signs of the apocalypse? Some college courses have been examining that possibility.
READ MORE: WATCH LIVE: Philadelphia Officials To Provide COVID-19 Update“All right. So, welcome back…”
Rutgers-Camden religion professor Stuart Charme’s class on the end of the world is in its final days before the Mayan calendar ends its cycle on December 21st — the day some believe the apocalypse will arrive. Charme calls this the most apocalyptic semester ever.
“This semester we had the convergence of economic factors, natural disaster factors, political factors. I mean, it was all there.”
READ MORE: Several Philadelphia-Area Vaccination Clinics Temporarily Close After FDA, CDC Recommend Pausing Use Of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 VaccineCharme’s course looks at how doomsday predictions are recycled, and what makes people buy in.
Senior Victoria Christodoulou is taking the course.
“Given the fact that the Mayan calendar so-called predicts that it’s going to end in this semester, the fact that Rutgers is offering a class, I figured, ‘Why not?’ It would probably be fun to literally learn from a teacher and not just Google searches and stuff.”
And where will she be on December 21st?
MORE NEWS: CDC, FDA Recommend US Pause Use Of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine Over Blood Clot Concerns“I have a final at 9 am. I’m failing that class, so fingers crossed that the world DOES end!”