After the exhilarating, liberating decade of the Roaring Twenties that had
brought women suffrage, women's sphere of action and influence was drastically
reduced after Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s. This contradicts a number
of cherished assumptions that we will explore in this course:

1) it is a common belief that history moves forward (to the better), not
backward (to the worse)--so how come women accepted, sometimes even
advocated authoritarian tyranny?
2) we often believe that those most disadvantaged by a given social system
will work toward its overthrow or modification--then how come women did not
join anti-Nazi resistance en masse?
3) we often presume that a group that is oppressed will sympathize and support
the cause of other groups that are ostracized--but women in Nazi culture
did not feel they had much in common with Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals,
communists, or other groups of people that were being controlled and
suppressed by the state.
4) we tend to think that Nazi ideas had currency only during a limited time in
early-twentieth-century German history--so how come some contemporary North
American artists use Nazi symbols and ideas to portray and criticize
aspects of our society today?

By reading documents by and about different kinds of women, not only in Nazi
Germany and Italy, but also in Britain, Canada, and the United States, we will
attempt to grapple with the questions above and ask what elements of Nazi
culture were attractive to women and ensured their cooperation; how Nazi ideas
expanded into other national traditions, including our own; and how we can
recognize them today. The course will ask you to consider definitions of
freedom, resistance, and complicity as choices open to modern citizens in the
West. It will encourage you to respond to the material by drawing parallels
and distinctions to the historical and ideological location from which you
think and write. While surveying historically specific phenomena, its primary
aim is to hone your critical thinking skills.

There will be weekly readings and writing assignments, both in-class and take-
home, as well as a midterm and a final. Thorough class preparation is
expected. There will be several nights when films are scheduled for viewing.
Students will have the opportunity to address some of the topics and themes in
depth during the discussion session.

Texts:
Fischer, AIMEE AND JAGUAR: A LOVE STORY, BERLIN 1943
Koonz, MOTHERS IN THE FATHERLAND: WOMEN, THE FAMILY, AND NAZI POLITICS
Kerschbaumer, WOMAN'S FACE OF RESISTANCE
a course reader available at Collegiate Copies