CRJU 349 - Perspectives on the Holocaust

(3 credits) Cross Listed with INTD/SCWK 349
Prerequisite: CRJU 101 or SCWK 270
This course introduces students to an interdisciplinary approach to studies of the Holocaust. An apocalyptic event, the Holocaust provides countless opportunities for students to identify and construct central questions and then embark on a journey of critical analyses and increased understanding of this historical event. Several topics are pursued including the sociopolitical processes that permit government-led discriminatory treatment of various social groups despite their possession of citizenship; the codification of laws that legitimized the marginalization, criminalization, and the near genocide of the Jews and other groups during the ascension and the apex of Nazism in Germany and the ability of government to gain the participation of ordinary people in this coordinated effort of abuse, theft and murder. In addition, this course reviews the human experiences of resistance, resilience and the survivorship of those who remained alive and intact physically, mentally, spiritually and socially during the Holocaust. Finally, the determination of relevant applications from the study of the Holocaust to nascent social conditions and social problems occurring elsewhere in the world is undertaken. (CGCL; CMCL)