Next week I’ll be traveling to Elon University for the inaugural meeting of On the Edge: New Directions in the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion, which was established at the Elon Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society. This meeting’s theme is “On the Edge of Apocalypse.”

My work, entitled “The Shadow of the End: An Islamic Horror Film,” will explore notions of “Apocalypse” through the film Under the Shadow (2016). The narrative follows Shideh and her daughter, Dorsa, as they survive the threat of both an aerial bombardment and demonic assault in their home in Tehran during the final years of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Overall, the film reveals the parallel between metaphysical doom and the demise of society through images of horror – a genre which facilitates new forms of expressing political anxiety and responses to it in an Islamic context.

I am very excited to join such a great group pf scholars to think about the utility of this theme for my work. The complete program can be found here.