Catalogue PDF Version

Catalogue - PDF Version

Holocaust Studies

Program Faculty
Michael Dobkowski, Religious Studies, Coordinator
Scott Brophy, Philosophy
Blaize Gervais, Religious Studies
Richard Salter, Religious Studies

The Holocaust, 1933-1945, was a human disaster of unprecedented proportions. Mass murder by "lawful" decree reached extraordinary proportions when a faceless and mindless bureaucracy combined with passionate hatred to lay waste European Jewish culture and millions of its practitioners. As a result, concepts of civilization were undermined, cherished ideas such as rationalism and progress as the basis for societal conduct were challenged, and the power of the churches and their teachings were called into question. Intellect and goodwill accounted for little in the Nazi era.

The Holocaust Studies minor provides an opportunity to study the Holocaust and its impact on society. This enterprise must go beyond history and religion, because the Holocaust cannot be understood without knowledge of the dynamics of prejudice, of propaganda, of political and social organization, of social and psychological deviance, or of the history of Judaism and the Jewish people. Holocaust study is by its very nature interdisciplinary.

Holocaust Studies Minor

interdisciplinary, 6 courses
Requirements:
Two courses from Core Group 1, one course from either Core Group 1 or 2, and three other courses from either of the Core Groups or the electives. At least two of the courses must be from the social sciences and at least two from the humanities; no more than three of the courses may be from any one department.

Courses

Core Group 1
HIST 108 The Making of Modern Europe
HIST 115 Demythologizing Race
HIST 237 Europe Since the War
HIST 238 The World Wars in Global Perspective 
HIST 345 Race-ing America
REL 271 History of the Holocaust
REL 290 Human Rights and Religion
REL 291 The Ethics of Identity
REL 371 Literary and Theological Responses to the Holocaust

Core Group 2
POL 244 Diverse Europe
POL 267 2oth Century Political Theory
POL 333 Civil Rights
POL 334 Civil Liberties
PSY 221 Introduction to Psychopathology
REL 270 Modern Jewish History
REL 273 The Foundations of Jewish Thought
REL 276 History of Eastern European Jewry, 1648-1945
REL 278 Jewish Life and Thought in Modern Times
SJSP 100 Foundations of Social Justice
SOC 220 Social Psychology
SOC 221 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 223 Inequalities

Social Sciences Electives
ANTH 205 Race, Class, Ethnicity
ANTH 222 Native American Religions
ANTH 282 North American Indians
ECON 210 Inequality
ECON 243 Political Economy of Race
INRL 260 Human Rights and International Law
INRL 283 Political Violence and Non-Violence
POL 140 Introduction to Comparative World Politics 
SOC 205 Men and Masculinities
SOC 224 Social Deviance

Humanities Electives
AMST 204 Body-Minds of Difference
AMST 208 Race and Ethnic Relations
AMST 223 Inequalities
AMST 237 Environmental Justice in Indian Country
EDUC 201 Schooling and Social Equalities
EDUC 202 Human Growth and Development 
ENG 111 Experience of War and Literature 
ENG 316 Hearts of Darkness
PHIL 151 Philosophy and Contemporary Issues: Crime and Punishment 
PHIL 154 Philosophy and Contemporary Issues: Environmental Ethics 
PHIL 156 Ethical Inquiry: Biomedical Ethics
PHIL 159 Philosophy and Contemporary Issues: Global Justice 
PHIL 210 Philosophy of Race and Racism
PHIL 236 Philosophy of Law
REL 108 Religion and Alienation in 20th-Century Culture
REL 292 Deviance and (De)Medicalization