The minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies provides a broad interdisciplinary education on the Holocaust and other genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries. This curriculum helps students develop a grasp of the history of the Holocaust, as well as its precipitating factors and legacy. In addition, students will gain an understanding of other genocides and be able to compare them. Students will be challenged to think critically and to examine the assumptions concerning issues of the Holocaust, genocide, and peace. They will learn how extreme prejudice leads to state-killing policies and how such ideas become “naturalized” and rationalized in social programs. They will also have the opportunity to explore ways to resolve conflict peacefully and study ethical decision-making. With a deeper understanding of prejudice, discrimination, racism, and anti-Semitism, students should be able to analyze contemporary local, national, and global political situations and movements and think critically about ethical responsibility. Coordinator: Mindi McMann.
Requirements
Required (2 course units)
The required courses will introduce students to Holocaust and Comparative Genocide Studies.
- HGS 200: Genocide and Human Rights
Choose one from the list below:
- HIS 325: Modern Germany
- LIT 380: Representations of the Holocaust
- REL 320: Holocaust: Historical and Religious Perspectives*
*This course may not be taken as an Option if it is already taken as a requirement
Options (3 course units)
- HGS 210: Non-Violence and Peace Action
- HGS 370: Topics in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
- HGS 391: Independent Study**
- HGS 399: Internship**
- HIS 187: Topics in World History (When Topic is Memory & WWII)
- HIS 324: Women in Eastern Europe 1848 – Present
- HIS 325: Modern Germany*
- HIS 352: Colonial and Modern Africa
- HIS 456: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Africa***
- LIT 317: The Witch in Literature
- LIT 380: Representations of the Holocaust*
- LIT 499: Seminar in Research and Theory****
- REL 320: Holocaust: Historical and Religious Perspectives*
- WGS 222: Non-Violence and Peace Action
- WGS 235: Gender and Violence
- WGS 310: Women in Eastern Europe 1848 – Present
**The fifth course may be earned by an internship or an independent study, approved by the Holocaust and Genocide Studies coordinator and a faculty sponsor. Relevant courses in the student’s major may also be counted for the fifth course, with approval from the Holocaust and Genocide Studies coordinator.
***When the topic is Conflict and Reconciliation in African History
****When the topic is “Post-memory and the Holocaust,” “Representations of the Holocaust,” or “Testimony and the Holocaust.”