Course Syllabus
| Semester & Location: |
Summer 2024, Session 3 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
History, Sociology, Human Rights |
| Prerequisite(s): |
None |
| Faculty Members: |
Christopher Sparshott (current students please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Time & Place: |
Monday through Friday, F24-402 |
Course Description
The Nazis went through a series of steps in their attempt to eliminate the European Jews, moving from mass shootings to the increasingly sophisticated application of gassing. Tracing this development, we study perpetrator profiles, victim strategies, and the role of bystanders. Looking at political and social aspects of the aftermath of the Holocaust, we focus on the role of the former killing sites in today’s Poland, as well as the international community. We discuss former concentration camps as both museums and memorials.
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This course offers a structured exploration of the Holocaust, organised both thematically and chronologically. Our aim is to provide you with a foundational understanding of the Holocaust. In Week 1, we will develop an interpretive framework to analyse the Holocaust. In Week 2, we will explore how the Holocaust happened. Our goal is to understand the path towards genocide between 1939-1945. In Week 3, we will investigate the planners, killers, victims, and bystanders of the Holocaust. By the end of the course, you will be able to critically analyse and articulate the complex historical factors and human experiences that shaped the Holocaust, equipping you with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of this pivotal event in 20th-century history.
We will address several challenging questions that continue to shape our understanding of the Holocaust: What makes the Holocaust a unique historical event, and why is this significance important? How do we define and understand the role of a “bystander” in such atrocities? What are the implications of the politics surrounding memory and commemoration?
Ultimately, this course aims to deepen your understanding of the Holocaust as a critical event of modernity, enriching your perspective on the interplay between modernity and violence, the politics of collective memory, and the nexus between historical events and ongoing struggles for social justice.
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Familiarise yourselves with the major historical events of the Holocaust we examine in class.
- Read critically, understand and analyse works of history produced by scholars with different methodological and theoretical approaches to the history of the Holocaust.
- Learn to recognise historical arguments regarding controversial historical questions and to formulate and support an original historical argument using primary and secondary sources.
- Acquire an understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the historical craft.
- Improve your analytical, writing and communication skills through close readings of texts, class (online) discussions, and writing papers.
Readings
Core texts:
- Yehuda Bauer, Rethinking the Holocaust, 2002
- Simone Gigliotti, et al, The Holocaust: A Reader 1st ed. 2005
- Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men: Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, 2017
- Laurence Rees, The Holocaust, 2018
Additional Readings:
The instructor will supply extracts from the source collections listed below as well as providing a range of other supplementary primary and secondary sources.
- Marilyn J. Harran and Dieter Kuntz, The Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Words and Pictures, 2000
- Jon E. Lewis, Voices from the Holocaust, 2006
- Jürgen Matthäus et al., Jewish Responses to Persecution, 1933–1946: A Source Reader (Documenting Life and Destruction: Holocaust Sources in Context) 2017
- Carsten Holbraad, Danish Reactions to the German Occupation (2017).
Faculty
PhD (Modern History, Northwestern University, 2007). MA (Modern History, Northwestern University, 2002). BA (Modern History, Oxford University, 2001). For two decades, I have taught courses in modern history at Northwestern University in the United States and Qatar in the Middle East. My teaching emphasises creative approaches to learning that build bridges to the past. I am passionate about bringing history to life and introducing students to new places, people and ideas through innovative, student-focused pedagogy. Secretly, my goal is to turn all students into historians! I am continuing my academic journey in Denmark as a teaching and learning specialist and a faculty member focusing on 20th-century Europe at DIS.
Approach to Teaching
"What would I have done?" This is the best question you can ask about the past. My teaching focuses on building bridges to the past that encourage students to leave behind the modern world and immerse themselves in the past. My goal is to reconstruct the past through primary sources and put students at the centre of major moments in history. To achieve this, I avoid lectures and focus on a combination of discussion, investigations, roleplaying and many other forms of interactive class that encourage students to become historians for a term (and hopefully longer).
Expectations of the Students
Students often complain that history classes are boring because they spend all their time learning the dates on a timeline. In this course, I am not interested in what you remember. Instead, I am much more interested in what you can say about the past. This is what I call your "historical voice". I encourage students to actively engage with the history and be willing to develop and share their findings with the class.
Specifically, active engagement in this class is defined as your active participation in the learning process, as well as your willingness to take responsibility for your own learning. In this course, you will be expected to attend all lessons, participate in class discussions, and complete assignments on time.
By actively engaging in this course, you will not only develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter, but you will also develop critical thinking skills, communication skills, and a passion for lifelong learning.
Evaluation
Discussion: 30%
In each class, you are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the materials and engage actively in discussions. Your goal is to contribute meaningfully to the learning environment. Each week, you will receive a participation grade worth 10%, totalling 30% of your final grade. Attendance is not included in the discussion grade, but missing classes will limit your participation and subsequently impact your grade.
Group Presentation: 10%
The Nazis and their collaborators sought to exploit Jews and strip them of their property and valuables. German authorities forced them to surrender their belongings in ghettos and, upon arrival in the Nazi camp system, profiting from the theft of Jewish property while seeking to deny Jews the means to survive or preserve their sense of humanity.
In weeks 2 and 3, students will present research in groups of 2-3 about a personal possession connected to the Holocaust and relevant to that day’s class. Presentations should be approximately 15 minutes and include 1 primary source for class discussion afterwards. Students will choose their topics in the first week of the term.
Weekly Assignments: 60%
Students will complete one larger assignment each week. Every class has a big question it is trying to solve. You answer one of the questions using the primary sources discussed in class and from your own research. You can choose the format of your answer: written paper, narrated PowerPoint or audio recording. All answers will be graded using the same analytical rubric.
You can find out more about the assignments in the assignments section.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
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