Holocaust Studies

What if you could...

What if you could hear first-person accounts of Holocaust survivors who lecture on campus at Drew’s Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study...

Holocaust Studies explores questions raised by the Third Reich’s attempt to destroy Jews

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

For students of all backgrounds and academic interests, this minor focuses on the Holocaust or Shoah, the systematic attempt from 1933 to 1945 to annihilate the Jewish people.
You will develop life skills, starting with a discerning view of the concept of “otherness.” This study stimulates self-reflection, self-confrontation and forces us to face the question “What would I have done? Would I have had the resources to survive?” Critical thinking is sharpened and you will become more sensitive to the injustices happening around us, as well as learning how to respond.
Scholars, psychologists, artists, theologians, historians, educators and political and social scientists have increasingly addressed the study of the Holocaust. How did it happen? What has the Holocaust taught us about ourselves?
Although Jews were clearly the central targets of Nazi persecution, other groups were targeted as well. We incorporate an historical awareness of this extended mosaic of victims to pursue broad moral and political issues.
Minors are encouraged to participate in international study, choosing from at least three Drew International Seminars on the Holocaust in Germany and Poland.

Passionate Faculty

Allan Nadler

Professor

I’m working on a new book about the history of heretics, their books and their excommunications, from Spinoza to Rav Kook, Mordecai Kaplan to the “Zoo Rabbi.” I’m also an ordained rabbi, and served synagogues in Boston and Montreal.

Ph.D., Harvard University

Passionate Faculty

Jonathan Rose

Professor

I’m working on a study of Winston Churchill’s literary career. (Indeed, he even published a novel.) I’d say I take great satisfaction in writing, in making words do things on the page.

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Passionate Faculty

Ann Saltzman

Professor emerita of psychology & director

I have been teaching Holocaust courses since 1990. My particular interest is exploring the interface between psychology and Holocaust studies.

Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center

Imagine Studying

the dimensions of evil and the moral outlook for the future in “Perspectives on the Holocaust”

View the catalog for details

Minor

Minor

Requirements for the Minor (20 credits)

In courses that do not focus on the Holocaust exclusively, students are required to focus on the Holocaust in papers, presentations, or other course components where students have the choice of topics.

I. Core (12 credits)

HIST 258 - Modern Jewish History (4)

A study of the social and cultural experiences of Jews and Jewish communities from the Enlightenment to the present. Explores the diversity of Jewish experience in Western Europe, Russia, America, the Arab lands, and Israel, beginning with a survey of the major developments in European and American history that have shaped Jewish identities.

Offered: fall semester in odd-numbered years.

HIST 339 - Germany, Nazism, and the Holocaust (4)

This course moves from early German national history, through World War One and the crises of Weimar, in an effort to understand the ascent of Nazism as an ideology and political movement, as well as Hitler's rise to power. Focus then turns to Germany's great crimes; war, conquest, and, especially, the Holocaust. Major themes include: traditions of authoritarianism; the nature and mobilization of German anti-Semitism; and the causes, course, and character of the Holocaust, examined through the experiences of its victims and perpetrators.

Offered: in alternate years.

HIST 342 - Europe, 1914-1945: The World Wars and the Great Dictators (4)

A study of world war and with great dictators in 20th-century Europe. Focuses on the failures of interwar diplomacy and the rise of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Devotes special attention to the Russian revolution, Stalin's terror, the Nazi Holocaust, and the peace settlement of 1945.

Offered: spring semester.

HOST 233 - Perspectives on the Holocaust (4) (Same as: JWST 233 ARLET+337.)

This course provides multiple perspectives on the Holocaust, the near extermination of European Jewry and the brutal persecution of an extended mosaic of victims. As a watershed event, the Holocaust has radically affected our fundamental conceptions of human nature, the dimensions of evil, the existence of God, the power of bearing literary witness, the moral and political outlook for the future. Readings span the disciplines of history, psychology, literature, theology, and political science, each providing its own distinctive illumination. Course requirements include exams, papers, journal entries, and a field trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Offered: spring semester.

JWST 220 - The Jewish Experience: An Introduction to Judaism (4)

A survey of the basic religious doctrines, ritual practice, and philosophical schools of the Jewish religion, from biblical times to the present. The course includes analysis of Jewish theology, rational philosophy, mysticism, messianism, religious ceremonies, family life-cycle, and rites of passage, as well as universal concepts.

Same as: REL 220.

Offered: spring semester.

II. Electives (8 credits)

ENGL 105 - Topics in American Ethnic, Immigrant, or Regional Lit. (4)

An exploration of literature of the American ethnic, immigrant, or regional experience. The course may focus on one ethnicity, such as Jewish American or Arab American; explore the immigrant experience as it is articulated in works from several ethnicities including Italian American, Irish American, Eastern European, Asian American, South Asian American, or Latino/a; or it may focus on literature produced within specific geographical regions, regional schools, or regional traditions of the United States, including Southern literature, literature of the Great Plains, the Northwest, the Southwest, California, New York City, or New Jersey.

Course may be repeated.

Offered: in alternate fall semesters..

ENGL 301 - Topics in Literature (4)

An advanced study of particular literary subjects (e.g. the literature of the Holocaust, immigrant literature), topics (Old English language and literature, myth and literature), problems (e.g., literacy and orality, modern constructions of older/ancient texts), and methodologies (e.g., psychoanalytic approaches, comparative literature.

Course may be repeated.

Offered: fall semester.

Prerequisite: ENGL+20A, 20B, 21A, 21B. Recommended: ENGL 105 as a prior course.

HIST 272 - History of Biology in the 20th Century (4)

History of the major developments in genetics, evolution/ecology, biochemistry/molecular biology, and immunology in the 20th century. Social, cultural, and political contexts of advances in the life sciences. Topics include biology as big science, biology and the shaping of modern medicine, biology and environmentalism, and human evolution and society.

Offered: Offering to be determined.

HOST 300 - Independent Study in Holocaust Studies (1-4)

This course will provide students with an opportunity to do independent research in Holocaust Studies: library research on a particular topic; analyzing and contextualizing original documents and artifacts that have been donated to Holocaust research centers and related archives. Students might also elect to design an interview study of survivors, children of survivors, or Holocaust refugees, or make an in-depth study of writers, artists, musicians who incorporate Holocaust themes into their works. Since Holocaust Studies is interdisciplinary, this course will allow students to engage in research that spans more than one discipline.

Signatures required: instructor and director of Holocaust Studies minor.

May be repeated as topic varies, but no more than four credits of Independent Study may be applied to the Minor in Holocaust Studies without the approval of the program director.

Offered: every semester.

Prerequisite: One course in Holocaust Studies.

HOST 311 - Topics in Holocaust Studies (4)

This course provides an interdisciplinary platform to explore current topics in Holocaust Studies.

Course may be repeated.

JWST 224 - Selected Topics in Jewish Studies (4)

An intensive study of special topics in this field.

Course may be repeated.

Offered: fall semester.

PHIL 304 - Problems of Ethics and Meta-Ethics (4)

Critical discussions of issues in contemporary moral philosophy in the areas of applied ethics, normative ethics, and meta-ethics. At the most highly theoretical level are considerations about the meaning of moral terms that give rise to cognitive and noncognitive theories of ethics. At a more immediate level are problems of practical concern having to do with such issues as euthanasia, abortion, animal rights, and world hunger. Readings are from 20th-century philosophers, most of whom are alive today.

Offered: spring semester.

PSCI 333 - International Human Rights (4)

An interdisciplinary study of international human rights norms in national and international contexts. Topics are selected from the following list: universalism and cultural relativism, the correlation of rights and duties, civil and political rights, economic and social rights, intergovernmental and nongovernmental institutions, universal and regional regimes, human rights and foreign policy, democratization, women's rights, individual criminal responsibility, development, and the transformed conceptions of statehood and sovereignty.

Offered: annually.

PSYC 367 - Seminar in Social Issues of Psychology (2-4)

Psychology has an almost 60-year history of involvement with social issues and social reform. This seminar focuses on psychological research on specific social issues as well as psychology's role in developing social policy and social intervention related to that issue. Possible issues include poverty and homelessness; prejudice, racism, and genocide; and war and peace. The specific social issue to be studied is announced prior to registration.

Signature of instructor required for registration.

Course may be repeated.

Offered: Offering to be determined.

Prerequisite: PSYC 101.

Note

Additional courses offered may also be applicable. Consult Holocaust Studies course listings.