J-Term

Course Information

RELIGION 471-T-1 Berlin and the Holocaust (also SOCI 271-T-2), 4 credits (Rom Maczka, Rick Matthews)

The purpose of the course is to give students an interdisciplinary understanding of both the events that led to the Holocaust, and the Holocaust itself.  While students will learn about the how of the Holocaust, a much greater emphasis will be placed on why it occurred. 

 

We will travel to various sites of historical significance in Germany (i.e., Wansee, Sachsenhausen, Ravensbrueck, and Buchenwald) and Poland (i.e, Auschwitz and the Warsaw Ghetto, Krakau).  Between trips, we will hold regular class meetings grounded in discussion of course readings.  In addition to faculty-lead seminars, we will attempt to have some guest speakers during our class meetings.

 

There are five primary objectives for this course that the readings, trips and classroom discussions will be aimed at achieving.  By the end of J-term, all students should be able to:

 

l         Describe, compare, and contrast the various explanations of why the Holocaust happened, from both religious and social science perspectives.

 

l         Assess the influence of the Holocaust on modern Jewish and Christian thought concerning theodicy (the problem of evil).

 

l         Describe the roles that Christians played in both facilitating and resisting the Holocaust, especially the roles of Dietrich and the Confessing Church.

 

l         Articulate the significance of obedience and submission to authority as forms of informal social control, and how informal social controls operate in both religion and society in general.

 

l         Describe the various religious, ethnic, minority and political groups that were targeted by the Nazis during the Holocaust.  Students should have a broad understanding of the ways in which the Nazis used propaganda and ideology to gain support for their social policies.

 

 

Method of Assessment

 

The course will be writing intensive, and will contain both formal and informal writing assignments.  Much of the writing will include an extensive journal covering the readings, seminars, and trips to historical sites.



Distribution Requirements: RELI
Meeting Time: Jan 3-5, Jan 8 9-12, 1-4
Prerequisites: None
Fee: Approximately $2100