WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2011-2012       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
Inside Nazi Germany, 1933-1945

HIST 263
Spring 2012 not offered
Certificates: International Relations

This survey course seeks to give a firm historical grounding in the processes that led to Hitler's rise to power, the nature of the National Socialist regime, and the origins and implementation of policies of aggression and genocide. The basic premise of this course is that National Socialism was from the outset driven by a belligerent and genocidal logic. The course will therefore critically analyze the racial, eugenic, and geopolitical ideology of National Socialism and the policies of discrimination, conquest, economic exploitation, and extermination that followed from it. At the same time, the role of structural factors in explaining these outcomes will also be explored in great depth. We will analyze how German society was shaped by Nazism, considering conformity and opposition in the lives of ordinary people in both peacetime and war. The course seeks to impart an awareness of the complex of factors that produced a regime of unprecedented destructiveness and horror, and it aims to develop a critical understanding of the ongoing problems of interpretation that accompany its history. As important, we will consider the continued relevance of the legacy of National Socialism and the Holocaust to our evaluation of national and international affairs in the 21st century.

Essential Capabilities: Interpretation, Writing
The papers written for this course will require analysis and interpretation of select readings and films. Students will be exposed to several important interpretive paradigms that have been developed for understanding the history of Nazi Germany and be expected to apply them in their papers and exams.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CJST-MN)(GRST-MN)(GRST)(HIST-MN)(HIST)(STS)

Last Updated on OCT-15-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459