Topic:  Responses to the Holocaust: Philosophy, Religion, Ethics,
Film, Politics, and Historiography

NOTE:  This is a COAS Intensive Writing Course

In this class, we shall examine various responses to the Nazi
atrocities and the death camps.  At first, in the postwar period, a
small number of philosophers, literary figures, and political
thinkers tried to understand these events in terms of traditional
categories.  We shall look at works by Primo Levi, Jean Amery, Jean
Paul Sartre, and Hannah Arendt and consider the nature of Nazi
antisemitism, the evil of the criminals and the crimes, and the way
in which the death camp experience challenged conceptions of human
dignity, solidarity, and language.

In the sixties, there emerged a tradition of theological discussion
about God, evil, religious institutions and practices, and the Nazi
atrocities.  We shall examine this tradition in detail and its major
figures, Jewish and Christian, including Richaard Rubenstein, Emil
Fackenheim, Eliezer Berkovits, Irving Greenberg, and Roy Eckardt.

This tradition of religious discussion flourished in the seventies
and involved attempts to understand what Judaism and Christianity in
a post-Holocaust world would be like.  Of special interest was the
relationship between the Holocaust and the reestablishment and
defense of the state of Israel.  In addition to considering examples
of this development and some criticisms of it, we shall discuss the
ways in which the Holocaust interacted with contemporary culture and
the problems raised about it, about our capacity to grasp and deal
with it, and more.  We shall consider the impact of the Holocaust on
political culture in America, Germany, and Israel; the attempts to
portray the Holocaust in film and general questions about
representation and memory; and the political and cultural
controversies about historiography and the Holocaust.  Our discussion
will take us to current debates on these issues.

The course satisfies the COAS Intensive Writing requirfement; there
will be four written assignments during the semester and a final term
essay.  There will be no examinations.  Readings will come from
various books and a course reader.  Although the course number is
P305, it requires no specific background in Philosophy, Jewish
Studies, or religious thought.  Students should be prepared for
careful reading of a variety of types of material and written work
throughout the semester.  Discussion in class will focus on the
readings.  In addition, there will be films shown on a few occasions
outside of class at times to be arranged.