This course explores the relationship between coloniality, race and ecology through the lens of “catastrophe.” We will examine a variety of theoretical and literary sources that deploy or refute tropes of the “end of the world.” We will study different uses of “catastrophe” to denounce the destruction of a particular world, re-imagine the past, or proclaim the impossibilities of the present. Through the readings and discussions, we will analyze the aims, effectiveness and limitations of talk of catastrophe in the contemporary context.