You’ve Gotta Keep the Faith: Making Sense of Disaster in Post 9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema

Chronologically examining the role of faith based narratives in the Hollywood apocalypse since the mid-90s, this article charts their reintroduction in the period after 9/11. Through the study of an extensive array of contemporary films the different structures of faith they offer and an exploration of how such faith is used in order to make meaning from disaster, I assert that post 9/11 apocalyptic movies have grappled with issues of faith and meaning in a far more complex way than in the films of the 90s, questioning the value of such faith in a post-disaster world. In concluding, I also argue that more recent releases indicate a return to the family fun of the 90s disaster epics

‘Another World Just out of Sight’: Remembering or Imagining Utopia in Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven

At the heart of Station Eleven lies a tension between remembering and imagining. Whereas most post-apocalyptic texts value their contemporary society by generating a sense of ‘nostalgia’ for the present, St. John Mandel’s novel places its emphasis on the imaginary and utopian possibilities that could accompany disaster. In the novel, a host of now useless objects become aesthetic links to the past, reminders collected by Clark in the Museum of Civilization; the Travelling Symphony’s productions of Shakespeare plays act as a way of remembering; and the patriarchal violence enacted by the Prophet offers an unpleasant re-enactment of the religious fanaticism that has punctuated history. But, whereas the objects and beliefs of the past provide a constant draw back into a nostalgic appreciation for a life that can never be recaptured, it is Miranda’s self-published comic book, Dr. Eleven, that suggests the importance and primacy of imagination over remembrance in the wastelands of the future. Just as the comic offers Miranda an escape from the domination of the male figures in her life – first boyfriend Pablo, then actor-husband Arthur Leander – before the Georgia Flu pandemic, the comic’s survival in the aftermath is what gives the novel its hopeful aspect. This article explores the way in which Station Eleven offers hope not through a rekindling of an exhausted past, but in a new imagined future in which the traditional lines and boundaries of relationships, ideals, identity, and community can be redrawn in ‘another world just out of sight’ (Mandel, 2015: 333)

Deflecting Absence: 9/11 Fiction and the Memorialization of Change

Abstract “Deflecting Absence: 9/11 Fiction and the Memorialization of Change” is an interdisciplinary examination of the way in which post-9/11 texts have been instrumental in memorializing the event as a moment of radical historical departure. Focusing on fiction through the reading of seminal 9/11 literary texts including Falling Man, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Amy Waldman's The Submission, the article deals with the internal contradictions at work both in reading and writing about works of 9/11 fiction and the way in which such texts eternally memorialize the discourse of change. Examining these literary texts alongside “Reflecting Absence,” the 9/11 memorial site, Spike Lee's film 25th Hour, and a broader discussion of the implications of the cultural discourse offered through these texts, the article exposes the disjuncture between 9/11 texts' desire to memorialize the event as the moment that “everything changed” and the missed opportunities for radical political change that followed.</jats:p

Securing Personal Input from Individuals Aging with Intellectual Disability: Do Differing Methodologies Produce Equivalent information?

Research is limited on whether differing methodologies for facilitating personal contributions from individuals aging with intellectual disability produce equivalent knowledge outcomes. Two matched purpose-developed tools examined five quality-of-life domains. Results showed substantial variance between qualitative interview responses and Likert-scale data, and indicate validity concerns for using either methodology in isolation

An ex vivo human tumour assay reveals distinct patterns of EGFR trafficking in squamous cell carcinoma correlating to therapeutic outcomes

EGFR overexpression is associated with squamous cell carcinoma development. Altered endocytosis and polarization of receptor tyrosine kinases, including EGFR, affect migration and invasion in 3D culture. These studies have been completed via genetic sequencing, cell line or 3D in vitro and in vivo murine models. Here we describe an imaging method that allows ex-vivo examination of ligand-induced endocytosis of EGFR in non-dissociated human tumours. We analyzed sets of tumour samples from advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis, intra-epidermal carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. We demonstrate that EGFR endocytosis is dysregulated in advanced SCC and correlates with anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody therapy outcomes. In actinic keratosis, intra-epidermal carcinoma and well-differentiated cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma different patterns of epidermal growth factor ligand uptake and binding were observed at the leading edge of different dysplastic lesions, suggesting that these differences in EGFR endocytosis might influence the metastatic potential of dysplastic squamous epithelium. These studies in live ex-vivo human tumours confirm that endocytosis dysregulation is a physiological event in human tumours and has therapeutic implications

Behind apocalypse: the cultural legacy of 9/11

‘Part One: 9/11 and the Death of the Capitalist Utopia’ focuses on how 9/11 has been memorialised, mythologised, and mobilised by contemporary culture. It examines a range of cultural materials from literature, film, and architecture, to 9/11 in the media. The section discusses, through a fusion of cultural and political thought, how the War on Terror became the inevitable continuation of the binary rhetoric of good and evil perpetuated since 9/11. Chapter One, entitled ‘Falling Man’, examines the complex relationship between art and 9/11, and the impact of images of those seen falling from the towers, primarily using Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud &amp; Incredibly Close to discuss the role of censorship after 9/11. The chapter progresses to look at Hollywood’s overt response to 9/11 with World Trade Center and United 93. Chapter Two: ‘Reflecting Absence’ contains a reading of the 9/11 memorial used as a case study of the preferred narrative of 9/11. The chapter establishes a regressive rhetoric produced after 9/11 and used to fuel support for a more aggressive stance towards foreign policy.In ‘Part Two: The Earth Burns Again: the Culture of Apocalypse in Contemporary Cinema’, I examine the specific case of apocalyptic narratives post 9/11. This is achieved through comparison pieces between late 90s apocalyptic films and those released after 9/11. It develops much of the theory put forward in the first chapter, showing how this can be applied not just to texts linked directly to 9/11, but also to texts about the future. Chapter Three: ‘The Abuse of Apocalypse’ begins with an examination of genre and the place of the apocalyptic narrative. I establish two distinct ‘waves’ and then move on to discuss a fascination with the ‘post’- apocalyptic after 9/11. This is framed by a comparison between 90s apocalyptic film and film post 9/11. Here I address the lone survivor narrative and further discuss the aesthetic differences between the two waves. Chapter Four: ‘You’ve Gotta Have Faith: Issues of Religion and Faith in Post 9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema’, continues by examining the developing theme of religion within these post 9/11 apocalypse movies. This second part of the thesis is more focused on textual analysis, using the theory already discussed to inform a deeper and more specific discussion of the ways in which this movie genre/sub-genre is indicative of the wider issues at stake.The thesis concludes with a discussion of the economic apocalypse which is evident in both the text and filmic versions of Cosmopolis. It places these ideas of an apocalyptic cultural mentality within the contemporary framework of the global financial meltdown, as well as summarises and returns to the main themes of the work, namely ideas about our ability to imagine the future, and the end of ideas of progress in traditional cultural forms.Over the last decade 9/11 has been a popular source for writers of both fiction and non-fiction. The unique contribution this thesis makes to the body of work on 9/11 lies in its examination of primary texts alongside political and cultural theory. Most importantly, the way in which I combine narrative and aesthetic theory with textual analysis to build a narrative of post 9/11 apocalyptic thinking gives an overall framework to an otherwise fractious discourse on the popular imagination post 9/11