Germany Confronts Nazism and the Holocaust
(German 387, Jewish Studies 369, History 261, Literature 369, Rights 387)
Kata Gellen
A course about how Germany has sought to come to terms with its Nazi past, the Third Reich, and the Holocaust. There will be background readings on history and politics, and a primary focus on public debates, literature, film, drama, memorials, museums, and commemorative events. We will also consider more private forms such as memoirs, essays, and poetry. Throughout the course we will examine the historical context and contemporary significance of these efforts to “work through the past.” Taught in English; no prerequisites. Codes: CCI, EI, ALP, CZ
A Cultural and Spatial Analysis of the Ghetto: Venice, Nazi Occupied Europe, Chicago
(Art History 730S, German 730S, History 730S, Jewish History 730S)
Paul Jaskot
This seminar explores the cultural and spatial history of the Ghetto. From its origins in Venice through the spread of ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe to the segregation of African-American populations in Chicago, specific spaces have been designated as ghettos. This designation has had an impact on the social understanding of architectural form, but it has also generated many cultural responses in material culture, art, photography, film, and other media. The course will explore the cultural understanding of the ghetto with a specific emphasis on the Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe but with a comparative look at Venice and Chicago. Taught in English.
Utopia, Diaspora and Other Jewish Futures in Eastern Europe — UNC course.
(Jewish Studies 697)
Eliza Rose
This course explores visions of Eastern Europe as a potential or realized home for the Jewish people. Rather than repeat the story of Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe, we will investigate scenarios of Jewish presence and return. Course materials drawing from art, literature, and film tour us through Jewish futures imagined in the past and present by anarchists, Marxists, dissidents, and artists. We will reflect on the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (the repairing of the world) by exploring Jewish participation in social transformations of the twentieth century. We will then turn to the Yiddish cultural revival today and contemporary Jewish culture that invokes traditions of twentieth-century Jewish thought. Taught in English. Open to undergraduates and graduate students. Contact: elizacr@email.unc.edu.
