Instructor: Dr. Daniel W. Skubik, PhD JD MDiv
Office: J266 / MW 2:30-5pm; TR 11am-1:30pm
Voice: 951.343.4288 / Fax: 951.343.4520
Web: http://www.calbaptist.edu/dskubik
E-Mail: dskubik@calbaptist.edu

 

The Holocaust: Historiographic, Philosophic & Religious Perspectives

HIS 435
Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, 12:00-12:50PM

California Baptist University
Spring Semester, 2012

 

This course is designed to introduce the student to the history of and extensive historiography covering the period of recent past and associated events cumulatively nominated the Holocaust/Shoah. It will provide opportunity for academic and personal in-depth analysis of some of the key causes and consequences of this “war against the Jews.” Items for study and reflection will include dramatic literary and film narratives, along with traditional historical analyses and documents.

 

The course is open to all students able and willing to engage in upper division study, and can be used to fulfill history major or minor upper division unit requirements, or general education requirements.

 

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

 

  1. Analyze and discuss the rise and fall of National Socialism in Germany, 1920s-1940s
  2. Analyze and discuss the roots of anti-Semitism that flourished during the 19th-20th centuries
  3. Analyze and discuss the role of Christianity during the Holocaust and in the post-Holocaust era
  4. Analyze and discuss the value of and problems created by the historiographic record of the Holocaust

 

 

Required Texts

Richard Rubenstein & John Roth, Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy rev. ed. (Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) [sometimes called revised edition, other times 2nd edition]   [R&R]

 

Elie Wiesel, Night [any edition will suffice, but either the 25th Anniversary edition by Bantam in 1986, or the combined The Night Trilogy (containing Night, Dawn, and The Accident) released by Hill & Wang in 1987 is recommended]   [Wiesel]

 

Yehuda Bauer, A History of the Holocaust rev. ed. (Franklin Watts, 2002)   [Bauer]

 

Tadeusz Borowski, This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Penguin Classics, 1976/1992)   [Borowski]

 

Recommended text, but not required: Steven Beller, Antisemitism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2007)

 

All books are readily available, new & used, from web shops such as Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble, as well as from the CBU Bookstore.

 

Other books, handouts and websites also will be referenced throughout the term, contents of which all students will be responsible.

 

 

Readings & Assignments Schedule

 

  Week #1
  (Jan 11/13)

  Introduction to course, requirements and expectations
  Introduction to historical studies of the Holocaust/Shoah                         Quiz #1

  Week #2
  (Jan 16/18/20)

         16 – MLK Observance; no class session
  Read & Discuss R&R, Prologue; and Bauer, ch. 1                                 Quiz #2

  Week #3
  (Jan 23/25/27)

  Read & Discuss R&R, ch. 1-2; and Bauer, ch. 2
       [Holocaust Memorial Day observed, Friday, Jan 27th]                        Quiz #3

  Week #4
  (Jan 30 / Feb 1/3)

  Read & Discuss Bauer, ch. 3-4; and
  R&R, ch. 3-4                                                                                       Quiz #4

  Week #5
  (Feb 6/8/10)

  Read & Discuss Bauer, ch. 5-6 ; and
  R&R, ch. 5-6                                                                                       Quiz #5

  Week #6
  (Feb 13/15/17)

  Read & Discuss Bauer, ch. 7-8
                                                                                                              Quiz #6

  Week #7
  (Feb 20/22/24)

  Read & Discuss R&R, ch. 7-8
                                                                                                              Quiz #7

  Week #8
  (Feb 27/29 / Mar 2)

  Midterms week [date of midterm to be decided by class consensus or vote;
  other days will be free for review and study]

  Week #9
  (Mar 5/7/9)

  Read & Discuss Bauer, ch. 9-10
       [Purim begins Thursday, Mar 8th]                                                      Quiz #8

  Week #10
  (Mar 12/14/16)

  Spring Break

  Week #11
  (Mar 19/21/23)

  Read & Discuss R&R, ch. 11-12
                                                                                                               Quiz #9

  Week # 12
  (Mar 26/28/30)

  Read & Discuss Bauer, ch. 11 & 13
                                                                                                               Quiz #10

  Week #13
  (Apr 2/4/6)

  Discuss Wiesel
         6 – Easter Break; no class session
       [Passover/Pesach begins at sundown, Friday, Apr 6th]                         Quiz #11

  Week #14
  (Apr 9/11/13)

         9 – Easter Break; no class session
  Discuss Borowski                                                                                  Quiz #12

  Week #15
  (Apr 16/18/20)

  Read & Discuss R&R, ch. 9-10                                                             Quiz #13
       [Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed Thursday, Apr 19th]

  Week #16
  (Apr 23/25)

  Read & Discuss Bauer, ch. 12 & 14
                                                                                                               Quiz #14

  Friday, Apr 27

  Final Examination period, as set by University
  2:00-4:00PM

 

Assessment & Grading Scale

  Midterm Exam = 25%

  90 - 100 = A range  (90-94 = A-)

  Final Exam = 35%

  80 - 89 = B range  (80-83 = B-  /  87-89 = B+)

  Quizzes = 30% (10 @ 3% each)

  70 - 79 = C range  (70-73 = C-  /  77-79 = C+)

  Film Participation = 5 %

  60 - 69 = D range  (60-63 = D-  /  67-69 = D+)

  Class Participation & Meet Instructor = 5%

  0 - 59 = F

 

Quizzes

 

There will be 14 quizzes offered during the semester (usually each Friday), though only your best 10 quizzes will count towards your final grade for the course [your best 5 of 7 during the first half of the semester (Quizzes 1-7), and the best 5 of 7 during the second half of the semester (Quizzes 8-14). In other words, you get to drop your 4 worst efforts]. Students will form small, stable study groups of 2-3 students each by the second week of classes for the duration of the term. Quizzes will be taken by each group as a group, with the quiz mark shared by those present and taking the quiz on any particular class day. The quizzes are objective in nature (true/false, multiple choice, fill-in the blank, matching, etc), concerning material most recently covered in the previous class sessions or relating to material to be covered in class that day.

 

 

Midterm & Final Examinations

 

Midterm and final examinations will be given as noted in the syllabus. Each exam covers all materials and discussions assigned during their respective periods of study (midterm = weeks 1-7; final = weeks 9-16).

 

Specific guidance as to length and requirements will be proffered before the test dates. Format generally will emphasize short answer and essay questions, requiring application of key facts, concepts and principles in relation to the topics covered in class.

 

The exam is closed book/open notes. This means you are permitted to bring to the exam one standard-sized page (8˝” x 11”) of notes you have personally prepared, front and back, without regard to print-size or margins. Other materials, such as website printings or professionally prepared texts or notes, are not permitted.

 

 

Class Participation & Meet Instructor

 

Although speaking in class, publicly putting and defending a position or interpretation, can be daunting, you are strongly encouraged to learn to think through your own and others’ experiences and insights within the context of our discussions. In this context, you are not being evaluated for reaching “right” conclusions, but for demonstrating your facility in forming arguments for any conclusions put, given the material we will cover in class.

 

To give direct incentive to so engage, 5% of your mark for the course will be comprised of my assessment of your classroom participation during the semester. Participation is to include in-class discussions during the semester, and does not directly include attendance.

 

You are also to meet with the instructor individually to discuss class materials at least once between the midterm and the final exam period. Sign up sheets will be available for selecting a meeting time after the midterm. You must attend and demonstrate grasp of our materials to earn the full participation mark. Meetings throughout the term during office hours are encouraged, but those informal meetings are not a substitute for this more formal setting.

 

 

Film Nights

 

Four films will be scheduled during the term, one each month during the term, January – April (exact days & times will be determined with your written input during the first days of class and communicated during the second week of class). Each film is related to our Holocaust studies, and will include a discussion session amongst all who attend. You are strongly encouraged to attend all four (4) films, and are expected to attend at least two (2) of these four film sessions in full to earn the 5% participation mark. If due to work or other official commitments you cannot attend, alternative assignments will be devised, such as having you watch one or more films of the instructor’s choosing from our Library’s Nie Wieder collection, and then submit a 1000-word (3-4 pages) review/reaction paper by a certain date. Such details will be arranged only and as required.

 

 

CBU Statement on Academic Dishonesty

Faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) have been asked to include the following statement in all our syllabi. Do speak with your instructor if at any time you have questions or concerns about this statement and its meaning for or application in your classes.

 

Academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, copying, and other forms) will be reported to the Dean of Students. Judicial sanctions for offense are handled on a case-by-case basis depending on the seriousness of the violation, prior violations and other factors. Judicial sanctions may include, but are not limited to, loss of a letter grade or failure in the course in which the offense occurred, suspension, and/or dismissal from the University. A detailed discussion of academic dishonesty is located in the Student Handbook.

Source: 2010-2011 Undergraduate University Catalog, at p.53

 

 

Caveat

This syllabus schedule is composed in good faith, with a schedule of readings and assignments that will guide us throughout the term. Still, the instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to this schedule as deemed necessary for the overall enterprise of the course. Any changes will be communicated as far in advance as feasible, and you are responsible for knowing if and when any changes have been made.