General provisions

The Hugo Valentin Centre, Uppsala University, is responsible for the course. The course was approved by the board of Hugo Valentin Centre 2010-10-12.

Entry requirements

General entrance requirements for Master courses or Master programmes or B.A. in the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences. General entrance requirements for Master courses or Master programmes or B.A. in the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Proofs of skills in English to a level corresponding to English B in the Swedish secondary school. This is normally tested by means of an internationally recognised test with of the following minimum scores:

IELTS: an overall mark of 6.5 points, and no section below 5.5)

TOEFL: Paper-based: score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test and a total score of 575. Internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test and a total score of 90.

Cambridge: CAE, CPE.

Learning outcomes

The study of the persecution and extermination of European Jewry, and the persecution and murder by the Nazis of other minorities, commenced as it occurred. Since then the historiography of the Holocaust (and more generally, Holocaust Studies) has undergone many fascinating and important theoretical, conceptual and methodological changes. The aim of this course is for the student to examine the main and most influential trends in this genre of historical study. The essential differences in how different national and even regional streams of historiography developed by scholars in Europe, Israel and North America will be closely examined. The "Intentionalism- Functionalism" debate and other theoretical debates, methodologies and analytical perspectives will also be closely examined.

Critical discussion of the particularities of how and why Holocaust history is written as it has been over the decades, and is today, will form a core of the course. This will include discussions about the critical use of primary source documents , and other sources such as survivor testimonies, memoirs, court documents, film, art, contemporary photos, etc. How Holocaust history forms the basis for a discipline today called "Holocaust Studies" will be explained and discussed.

Learning Outcomes

After the completed course the student will be able to:

- Discuss the primary streams of Holocaust historiography, and be able to write about how they developed and why.

- Describe the vast variety of sources and perspectives—national, (larger) collectives of individuals (regional, local), and individual—upon which the historiography of the Holocaust is built.

- Discuss the various types of sources available to the Holocaust historian (and other disciplines), and why some are relevant for certain types of studies, while others are relevant for other types of studies.

- Distinguish between different types of empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives, and be able to incorporate this understanding into his/her reading of Holocaust historiography and the student's own writing of history and/or historiographical essays.

- Use the theoretical skills in their own comparative analyses of various historiographies, including national and individual traditions.

Content

The course will consist of lectures, seminars, and the composition of essays, including but not limited to the final exam essay.

Instruction

Study of literature, active participation in seminars, as well as writing and discussing papers.

Assessment

Examination includes seminars and (short) seminar papers. A final essay on a topic decided by the student in discussion with the instructor will make up the bulk of the grade.

Grades will be given in accordance with the Swedish grading system. The following grades will be used: Välgodkänd (VG), Godkänd (G), Underkänd (U).