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| University of South Alabama History 347 Winter 1998 Dr. Daniel E. Rogers | Office: HUMB 372 Office Phone: 460-6210 (receptionist); 460-7610 (in my office) http://www.usouthal.edu/history/faculty/rogers E-mail: drogers@jaguar1.usouthal.edu |
Class time will consist of primarily of (1) lectures with frequent pauses for questions and dialogue; and (2) video presentations.
The choice of material presented in the course presupposes students have satisfactorily completed the second half of the Western civilization survey (History 102).
The course will be very intellectually and emotionally demanding; but the reward will be great and you will never forget this experience.
Office Hours and Student-Professor Contact: My office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 7:40 to 8:40 p.m. If these hours do not fit your schedule, you should feel free to ask me for an appointment or to call one of the phone numbers above. If I am not available when you call, please leave a message.
Please do not wait until catastrophes strike before phoning or coming to see me outside of class. It would also be great to talk with you about the course or anything else even when things are going well.
Those of you with access to electronic mail are strongly encouraged to e-mail me at the address at the top of the syllabus. In many cases e-mail will prove the fastest way to get a definitive answer from me. I will also welcome any comments or suggestions you may wish to submit via e-mail.
Required Books: Students should purchase the four required texts.
Ronnie S. Landau, The Nazi Holocaust
Richard Glazar, Trap with a Green Fence
Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz
Sara Nomberg-Przytyk, Auschwitz: True Tales from a Grotesque Land
Grades: Your grade will be determined by one of the following sets of percentages, according to your choice.
|
Midterm essay exam |
35% 35% 20% 10% |
|
Midterm essay exam |
15% 55% 20% 10% |
The difference between these two methods concerns your score on the midterm, and your desire to improve it. If you do not perform as well as you would have liked on the midterm, you may elect to take a comprehensive final exam that will count for 55% of the course grade, thus lowering the weight of your midterm exam to only 15%. If you are satisfied with your midterm grade, or if you do not wish to take a comprehensive final exam, you may take a final that covers only material since the midterm.
No extra credit assignments will be allowed. The standard grading scale will be used on all work: A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=below 60.
Class Participation and Attendance: Your attendance in class is required. Each student may miss as much as one week's worth of class (200 minutes) without the need to provide any excuse, since it is assumed you will be missing class for emergency purposes only. Subsequent absences will be excused only for very serious illness or family emergencies. Students with jobs should consider as the term begins whether their work and class schedules are in harmony, and adjust them accordingly -- even if it means having to drop this class.
Each twenty-five minutes of class time that students miss after the excused period will result in a loss of one point of class participation credit, up to the maximum of ten points. Thus, since each evening class is 100 minutes long, missing an entire class after the excused period will cause a loss of four points. Students who miss more than three weeks' worth of class for any reason may be failed for the course.
Frequent verbal contributions of good quality may result in increased credit for participation.
Midterm and Final Exams: Two in-class essay/short-answer exams will be given: (1) the midterm exam will take place on Monday, February 9; (2) the final will take place on Monday, March 16 at 6:00 p.m. The midterm will cover topics raised prior to February 9; the final will cover topics raised since the midterm, unless students elect to take a comprehensive final as discussed above. More details -- especially concerning the material for which you will be responsible on each exam -- will be announced verbally in class.
Paper Assignment: Each student will write a typed, ten-page fictional first-person account by a victim of the Holocaust. The paper will be due Wednesday, March 11 at the beginning of class. More details on the paper will appear on a subsequent handout. Late papers will be marked down five points per day or fraction thereof, up to a maximum of twenty points.
Attendance and Make-Ups: The University Bulletin puts it the best: "An individual student is responsible for attending the classes in which the student is officially enrolled. The quality of work will ordinarily suffer from excessive absences."
Students who miss the midterm exam and expect to make it up should present written proof of extreme and unavoidable circumstances compelling the student's absence at the specific time of the exam. Such excuses have a better chance of being accepted if you call or e-mail me before you miss the exam. If in doubt, call. I'll be glad to hear from you.
Remember: failing to attend class may adversely affect your class participation grade.
Honesty: All the work you do in this course should be the product of your own studying and thinking. For the exams in class, you may use only the knowledge in your own heads. For the paper, you may use as sources only class notes, course readings, selected films we have seen in class, and your own imagination. I don't expect to have to do this, but I do reserve the right to award an F for the entire course to any students who do not comply with these standards of honesty. Do all your work yourself and you'll have no problem. But, once again, if in doubt, call. I'll always be glad to hear from you.
Warning: Any information on this syllabus may be superseded by verbal announcements in class. Please be here every time!
Monday, January 12
Topic: Jews in the Modern World and Antisemitism
Wednesday, January 14
Topic: Ideology, Social Darwinism, and National Socialism
Monday, January 19
Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday
Wednesday, January 21
Topic: Nazi Racial Policies, 1933-1939:
Eugenics, Forced Euthanasia, and Antisemitism as Government Policy
Monday, January 26
Topic: World War II and the Origins of the "Final Solution"; Ghettos in Poland
Wednesday, January 28
Topic: Murder Squads (Einsatzgruppen) in the Soviet Union
The Wannsee Conference and the "Final Solution"
Be prepared to discuss the Wannsee Conference minutes (to be handed out in class in advance)
Monday, February 2
Topic: Auschwitz and the Operation Reinhard Camps
Be prepared to discuss Richard Glazar's Trap with a Green Fence
Wednesday, February 4
Topic: A Survivor's Story
Monday, February 9
Midterm Essay Exam -- bring one large blue book and a blue or black pen that has plenty of ink left. You will be tested on all material covered in class so far, along with the book by Glazar.
Wednesday, February 11
Topic: Jewish Resistance
Monday, February 16
Film: Excerpts from Claude Lanzmann's Shoah
Wednesday, February 18
Film: Excerpts from Claude Lanzmann's Shoah
Monday, February 23
Topic: The Holocaust in Germany and Western Europe
Wednesday, February 25
Topic: Non-Jewish Victims of Nazi Racial Policies
Monday, March 2
Topic: Rescue
Wednesday, March 4
Topic: Allied Indifference to the Holocaust?
Film: America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference
Monday, March 9
Topic: Hungary and the End of the Holocaust
Be prepared to discuss Levi's and Nomberg-Przytyk's books
Wednesday, March 11
Topic: War Crimes Trials and the Aftermath of the Holocaust
Monday, March 16
Final Exam, 6:00-8:00 p.m. -- bring one large blue book and a blue or black pen that has plenty of ink left. If you wish to lessen the impact of your score on the midterm exam, be prepared to take a comprehensive final exam at this time. If you do not wish to take a comprehensive final, you will be tested on all class material since the midterm, along with the books by Levi and Nomberg-Przytyk