Overview of Humanities 200/300:

The Holocaust: Past, Present, and Future

This is a general overview, introducing some of the highlights of our
Holocaust course and our website. See also the Ferrum College Catalog
description under Humanities 200/300.

This course may be unlike any you have attended. Because the immense
subject of the Holocaust touches all disciplines, our course is multidisciplinary. Ten faculty teach it, sometimes in teams, sometimes solo, from the perspectives of history (European and Soviet, with a special look at Spanish history), religion, psychology, sociology, art, music, and literature. From these perspectives we ask how the Holocaust happened and why. We begin by studying pre-Christian anti-Judaism and the later development of antisemitism, and end by examining the present dangers of neo-Nazism. We discuss contemporary examples of genocide in other cultures, and we ask ourselves about how racism starts and how we can recognize and change our own feelings concerning prejudice, discrimination, and intolerance. Finally, we ask how we can use the course to help ourselves and others to become more humane members of society.

The Holocaust class is a highly experiential course, including multimedia on the web, face-to-face interactions with Holocaust survivors, liberators, and/or former hidden children of the Holocaust, dramatic performances, and a one-day trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The entire class participates in planting seeds in a Holocaust Memorial Garden.

You can click on some of the examples below for a small sampling of what the Holocaust course website offers:

Holocaust: Streaming Video (requires high speed connection)

Video: Susan Cernyak-Spatz interview excerpt. Auschwitz survivor.

Video: Dr. Sid Franklin interview excerpt. Camp liberation story.

Streaming Audio

Some of the lectures/disussions cover the following topics:

• People of Faith Ask Why: The History of Anti-Semitism: Theological Perspectives
• The Role of the Jews in Spanish Society and Events Leading Up to Their Expulsion in 1492: Background and Consequences
• Historians Ask Why: The Rise of the Nazis to Power
• Comparison with Other Oppression Worldwide in the First Half of the Twentieth Century: The Soviet Union
• Discussion of Race and Racism: Dehumanization, Rationalization
• In-Class Discussion of Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders and Schindler's List
• Artists Ask Why: Propaganda and Resistance in Art and Music
• Psychologists Ask Why: Implications of The Perils of Obedience and Video of The Milgram Experiment
• The Aftermath: Memorials in Art, Architecture, and Music
• The Aftermath: The U.S.' and Others' Roles
• Worldwide Examples of Ethnic Hatred and Other Historical Examples
• Is Forgiveness Possible? A Discussion of The Sunflower and Moral Choices
• What Is the Message of the Holocaust? How Can WE Make a Difference?

For questions or for further information about the Holocaust course, contact Dr. Marcia Horn, Professor of English and Holocaust course coordinator, at 365-4328 (office), 483-8880 (home), or e-mail me at mhorn@ferrum.edu.