Instructor: Dr. Daniel W. Skubik, PhD JD MDiv
Office: J266 / office hours as scheduled & by app’t
Voice: 951.343.4288 / Fax: 951.343.4520
Web: http://www.calbaptist.edu/dskubik
E-Mail: dskubik@calbaptist.edu
Honors
Seminar V
Studies in the Holocaust:
Perpetrators & Victims, Rescuers & Bystanders
Hon 300/400 (Main Campus)
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Fall Semester, 2009
This seminar is the fifth in a series of eight CBU Honors Program seminars that will investigate ideas systematically, progressively and in interdisciplinary fashion. All eight seminars of any single cycle will be thematically linked, so that students will have the opportunity for intensive, focused study from historical, philosophical, religious, sociological, political, literary, economic and scientific/technological perspectives.
The guiding theme for our cycle, and so for this seminar, is “reality.” By the end of the semester, students should grasp the fundamental associations of the term “reality” across the academic disciplines; understand the development and use of categories of thought generated by the theme of reality; and be able to demonstrate how to identify and analyze the presence or absence of reality discourse in primary and secondary academic materials and literary works.
As developing scholars in the CBU Honors Program, students will
· learn how academic disciplines organize around key generative ideas;
· begin and develop personal academic journaling;
· appreciate the broad impact of reality across the disciplines;
· learn what academic research and research writing requires; and
· become sensitive to diverse disciplinary perspectives.
More specifically with regard to this seminar on the Holocaust, students will be introduced to and begin investigating foundational dimensions of reality that link good and evil, chaos and redemption. Particular focus will be given key terms such as perpetrator, victim, bystander, and rescuer in the context of the Holocaust and its aftermath.
Required Texts
David Engel, The Holocaust: The Third Reich and the Jews (Longman, 1999)
Martin Gilbert, The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust (Owl Book/Henry Holt, 2004)
David Gushee, The Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust: A Christian Interpretation (Fortress Press, 1994)
Raul Hilberg, Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945 (HarperPerennial, 1992)
Website pages for online viewing and hardcopy handouts will be referenced
throughout the term, contents of which you also will be responsible.
Class Readings & Discussion Schedule
|
Week #1 |
Introduction to course, requirements and expectations |
|
Week #2 |
Read/Discuss Engel, ch 3-5 |
|
Week #3 |
Read/Discuss
Engel, ch 6-8 |
|
Week #4 |
Read/Discuss Hilberg, Part I |
|
Week #5 |
Read/Discuss Hilberg, Part II |
|
Week #6 |
Read/Discuss Hilberg, Part III |
|
Week #7 |
Read/Discuss Gushee, ch
1-4 |
|
Week #8 |
Read/Discuss Gushee, ch
5-7 |
|
Week # 9 |
Read/Discuss Gilbert, ch 1, 3, 4, 5 |
|
Week #10 |
“Never Again” film & panel discussion, Copenbarger Dining Room, 7:00-10:00PM |
|
Week #11 |
Read/Discuss Gilbert, ch
11, 15, 17 |
Week #12 |
Presentations (2) |
|
Week #13 |
Presentations (2) |
|
Week #14 |
Presentations (2) |
Assessment & Grading Scale
|
Individual Research Project = 40% |
90 - 100 = A range (90-94 = A-) |
|
Class Presentation/Leading = 20% (2 x 10% each) |
80 - 89 = B range (80-83 = B- / 87-89 = B+) |
|
Journal submissions = 20% (10 x 2% each) |
70 - 79 = C range (70-73 = C- / 77-79 = C+) |
|
General Discussion/Participation in Class = 20% |
60 - 69 = D range (60-63 = D- / 67-69 = D+) |
|
|
0 - 59 = F |
Individual Research Project
In consultation with the instructor, students are to select a person or group for development into a major project (content marked at 30/35%) for presentation (marked at 5/10%) to the class during one of the concluding weeks, as noted in the syllabus. Multimedia presentations (use of video, audio, websites, etc) are encouraged, but not required. [Standard oral presentation: 35/5; multimedia presentation: 30/10]
One hardcopy or digital version of the final project-cum-presentation should be handed/emailed to the instructor at/before the beginning the evening of the scheduled presentation. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Assignment to one evening for presentation of project will be done first by calling for volunteers, then by lottery. It is initially assumed there will be the need for at least two presentations each of the two evenings set in the syllabus.
Journal Submissions
Students should begin compiling an electronic journal related to this class. This means that one should be journaling (that is, preparing substantive written entries in some digital format that can be transmitted to the instructor via email) each designated week, irrespective of whether the student actually attended that week’s session.
A substantive entry is 200 words (minimum, lengthier entries are welcome) summarizing and reacting to some key points from a particular week’s readings and class discussions, perhaps relating to some real world case or event, some recently read piece of academic literature, or simply related ideas provoked by life. These entries can form a series of reflections, so linking entries along the way one to another like an intellectual diary, or can be independent musings week-by-week.
To be considered timely, any entry should be received in the instructor’s email inbox (dskubik@calbaptist.edu) either as plain text within the body of the email or as a Word attachment) no earlier than Tuesday at 9:30pm (end of class) and no later than midnight of the subsequent Sunday of each class session for which credit is sought. Thus, for example, a journal entry for Week 2—when we meet on Tuesday, September 22nd—is due no earlier than the end of that class period and no later than midnight Sunday, September 27th). Entries for any week that are received before the class actually ends or after that Sunday deadline will be accepted as part of the overall journaling project, but will not be marked and counted towards your final grade.
Discussion/Participation
Although speaking in class, publicly putting and defending a position, 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 short, you are encouraged to demonstrate your internalization of our material for application in the real world. 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, 20% of your mark for the course will be comprised of my assessment of your classroom participation during the semester.
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 [sic] 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: 2006-2007 Undergraduate Catalog, at p.80]
Caveat
This syllabus is composed in good faith, with a schedule of readings, assignments and discussions which 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 seminar. 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.