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History, Memory, and Legacies of the Holocaust

Overview

This wiki-based website is an outgrowth of a course being undertaken this year (2008) between students from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York and the University of Potsdam in Potsdam, Germany. The course examines how the Holocaust is taught, remembered and memorialized in Germany and the United States. Students analyze texts, debates, memorials and theories from history and cultural studies, literature and the arts. In addition, students compare and explore the different ways in which the past has influenced public discourse in Germany and the U.S. by comparing a series of debates and events, which have served as turning points in the public discourse on this topic.

Project Pages

Holocaust Education in the United States and Germany

Museums and the Holocaust

In addition to being interdisciplinary, this course also involves a sustained exchange between students from Vassar and students from Potsdam. Students discuss texts and debates and they work on projects with their partners via video-conferencing. A study trip to Berlin for the Vassar students is scheduled during Spring break, and the German students visit Vassar in April.

German Students at Vassar: Wiki Workshop in the Cloisters

American and German students take cross-ocean class on the Holocaust

Cristian Science Monitor Article

The course is divided in 3 parts: the first part of the course offers an introduction to the topic of Memory and the Holocaust from two disciplinary perspectives: history and cultural studies. The second part of the course commences with the Vassar trip to Berlin, where Vassar students, together with their colleagues from Potsdam, will choose from among the projects listed at the end of the syllabus and work on the topic in small groups. In some instances, a German group of students will choose a parallel topic and research this topic for the United States. The two parallel groups may discuss their findings and collaborate in their research. During the study trip to Berlin, every student will keep a journal. During the third part of our seminar, our classes will be held together with our German partners via video-conferencing, and each German-American research teams will present their findings.

For a look at the readings and topics for the Vassar class, click the link below to download a copy of the syllabus:

Vassar Syllabus.doc