Prof. Edward T. Linenthal
Email: etl@indiana.edu
Office phone: 812-8550335 (Journal of American History)


“The predicament of aftermath defines us, and not merely as
individuals but as creatures of an age that has never been able to
assimilate the implications of the event we call the Holocaust.”
Terrence Des Pres


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will examine the ever-changing constructions of Holocaust
memory in the United States, from the revelations of the horrors of
the concentration and death camps in the spring of 1945, through the
challenge of Holocaust remembrance in personal testimony, literature,
film, and physical memorials. Through lecture and discussion, we will
think together about Des Pres’ assertion that we are defined by
the “predicament of aftermath.” Is it the case that we have “never
been able to assimilate the implications” of the Holocaust? What does
it mean to “assimilate” these “implications?” What are these
implications? How does the Holocaust live on in American remembrance,
and why should the United States be so invested in the memory of a
European genocide?


Course carries S & H distribution credit.
Above course meets with HIST-A379