Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
COURSE OUTLINE FORM
Updated 9/23/14
Please return this form to the college vice president of academic affairs and the
chairperson of the Academic Affairs and Standards Council (AASC)
1. Prepared by: __________________________________________________
2. Date submitted: ________________________________________________
3. Date approved: 11/12/2010
Date revised:2/4/2015
4. Department/discipline: English
5. Department(s) endorsement(s):_____________________________________
(Signatures of the person(s) providing the endorsement are required.)
6. Course Title: The Holocaust in Literature & Film
Abbreviated course title (25 characters or less):
7. Course Designator: ENGL
8. Course Level: 2031
9. Number of Credits: Lecture: 3 _ Lab: 0
10. Control Number (on site): 35
Control Number (online): 0
11. Catalog/Course description:
This course first presents the history of the Jews and antisemitism as a prelude to
understanding the causes of and reactions to the Holocaust. Literary responses to
the “Final Solution” will be examined through specific works from various
generations, cultures, and genres. (Meets MnTC goal area 6).
12. Course prerequisite(s) or co-requisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): ENGL 1101 College Composition
Co-requisite: None
13. Course Materials (Recommended course materials and resources. List all that
apply, e.g. textbooks, workbooks, study guides, lab manuals, videos, guest
lecturers).
Required texts:
Bauer, Yehuda. A History of the Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982.
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(ISBN 13 978-0531056417)
Friedlander, Albert. Out of the Whirlwind: A Reader of Holocaust Literature.
New York: UAHC Press, 1999. (ISBN 13 978-0807407035)
Supplemental texts (not required: to be discussed in class):
Spiegelman, Art. Maus I and II. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006.
Films:
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Schindler’s List
One Survivor Remembers
The Last Days
Architecture of Doom
Jakob the Liar
14. Course Content (Provide an outline of major topics covered in course)
1. Introduction and Orientation
a. Definition of historical terms
i. Holocaust
ii. Shoah
iii. Genocide
iv. Nazi
b. Definition of literary terms
i. Genres (memoir, fiction, poetry)
ii. Theme, symbolism, metaphor
iii. Structure (plot, conflict, flashback, foreshadowing)
iv. Point of view (first person, third person, omniscient)
v. Characters (protagonist, antagonist, dialogue)
c. Literary styles
i. Realism
ii. Lyrical
iii. Narrative
iv. Myth
v. Fantasy
d. Theories of literary criticism (selected)
i. Reader response
ii. Historical
iii. Archetypal (The Hero’s Journey)
2. History of Antisemitism
a. Myths and misconceptions
b. Expulsion and persecution prior to Third Reich
c. German antisemitism/eugenics
d. Influence of Mein Kampf
3. Rise of Hitler and Early Legislation
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a. National Socialism
b. Nuremberg Laws
c. Berlin Olympics
d. Munich Conference
e. Kristalnacht
4. World War II
a. Invasion of Poland and Soviet Union
b. Einsatzgruppen/Babi Yar
c. Ghettoes (Jakob the Liar-film)
d. Wannsee Conference
e. Deportation and camps (One Survivor Remembers)
5. Reactions from Europe and Allies
a. Rescue efforts and resistance (Schindler’s List)
b. Warsaw Uprising
c. Jews in Hungary (The Last Days-film)
d. Death of Hitler
e. Creation of the State of Israel
6. Holocaust Literature
a. Voices of victims
i. Anne Frank
ii. I Never Saw Another Butterfly (poems from Terezin)
b. Testimony of survivors and witnesses
i. Night by Elie Wiesel
ii. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
iii. One Survivor Remembers by Gerda Klein (film)
c. Resistance
i. Warsaw ghetto uprising
ii. Emmanuel Ringelblum’s diaries
d. Stories of Rescue
i. “Righteous Gentiles”
ii. Denmark (Number the Stars)
iii. Schindler’s List (film)
e. The German point of view
i. Mein Kamp
ii. The White Rose
f. After the Holocaust
i. Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman
ii. Poetry by Paul Celan and others
g. Themes in Holocaust literature
i. Belief in the goodness of humanity
ii. Loss
1. of belief in God
2. of identity
3. of childhood
iii. Proof of being God’s chosen people
iv. Silence
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v. Survivor guilt
vi. Denial
vii. Rebirth
viii. Victimhood
ix. Breakdown of rational thought
x. Pervasiveness of death, murder, and suicide
xi. Psychological trauma
h. Exploitation of Holocaust in literature
i. Political
ii. Personal
7. Final Observations
a. Role of Holocaust literature in today’s world
b. Individual student responses
8. Recommended Resources
a. Websites
i. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org)
ii. USC Shoah Foundation Institute (http://college.usc.edu/vhi/)
iii. Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State
(http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/about/)
b. Literature/film suggestions for research paper
i. The Auschwitz Poems
ii. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentleman (Tadeusz Borowski)
iii. The Shawl (Cynthia Ozick)
iv. Holocaust in Sylvia Plath’s poetry
v. other works by Elie Wiesel
vi. Sophie’s Choice (film)
vii. The Attic Room (drama)
viii. Dachau (drama)
ix. Young Moshe’s Diary (Moshe Flinker)
x. Ghetto Diary (Janusz Korczak)
xi. On Both Sides of the Wall (Vladka Meed)
15. Learning Goals, Outcomes, and Assessment
At FDLTCC we have 4 Competencies Across the Curriculum (CAC) areas. They
are as follows:
A. Information Literacy (the ability to use print and/or non-print tools effectively
for the discovery, acquisition, and evaluation of information)
B. Ability to Communicate (the ability to listen, read, comprehend, and/or deliver
information in a variety of formats.)
C. Problem Solving (the ability to conceptualize, apply, analyze, synthesize, and/or
evaluate information to formulate and solve problems.)
D. Culture (knowledge of Anishinaabe traditions and culture, knowledge of one’s
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own traditions and culture, knowledge of others’ traditions and cultures, culture
of work, culture of academic disciplines and/or respect for global diversity.)
Course learning outcomes will fulfill the identified competencies:
Course Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Access and evaluate at least two relevant websites on the topic. (A, C)
2. Construct a timeline of historical events leading up to the Holocaust. (A, B, D)
3. Demonstrate knowledge of various categories/genres of Holocaust literature
and film and provide examples of each. (B)
4. Analyze Holocaust literature and films based on literary conventions. (B, D)
5. Research an appropriate topic and present findings through written paper or
powerpoint. (A, B, C, D)
6. Apply the concept of genocide to historical and modern day events. (C, D)
7. Demonstrate through writing and discussion how the Jewish culture, beliefs
and value system influenced the responses of various groups and individuals to
the Holocaust. (B, D)
16. Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC): If this course fulfills an MnTC goal
area, state the goal area and list the goals and outcomes below:
See www.mntransfer.org
Goal Area(s): 6
Goal and Outcomes:
Goal: Humanities & Fine Arts
Outcome: Students will be able to:
a. demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts
and humanities. Students will read from a variety of literary and film
genres including memoir, essay, poetry and documentary.
b. understand those works as expressions of individual and human values
within an historical and social context. Class discussion will focus on
literature as a response to the events before, during and after the
Holocaust and how individual and human values are expressed therein.
c. respond critically to works in the arts and humanities. Literature and
film will be analyzed and discussed according to various theories of
literary criticism.
d. articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and
humanities. Students will write response papers after reading/viewing
works of film and literature, incorporating knowledge of literary
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elements, styles, and genres, as well as analyzing the values and attitudes
expressed in the works.
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Complete the following only if you are proposing a new course:
1. Planned pattern of offering:
2. Rationale for course: If this course is an ADDITION or replacement to current
offerings, add a detailed explanation of the necessity for the change. Does this
course overlap with any course(s) offered at FDLTCC? If so, justify such
duplication or indicate other adjustments to be made. Obtain signatures from
affected departments.
3. What is the apparent or expressed student need for this course?
4. If this course includes a Native American or specifically Anishinaabe component
list campus resource person/s—i.e., campus cultural/spiritual resource person/s
and, if necessary, elder/s—consulted and include specific comments and written
responses as appropriate.
5. Are there any additional licensing/certification requirements involved?
a. Provide a copy of the required licensing/certification standards to the AASC
chair and to the vice president of academic affairs.
b. Attach the required documentation to show course meets required
licensing/certification standards.
6. What types of tutoring will be made available through the CAA to students
taking this course?
7. How will the course be evaluated?
8. Special resources—e.g. faculty, space, equipment, library, etc
9. Special course fees:
10. Relationship of course to the college mission statement and goals.
11. Relationship of course to the department’s mission statement and goals.
12. Relationship of course to colleges/university offerings (include tribal colleges).
College or
University
Course
Number &
Title
Credits
Awarded
Hibbing CC
Itasca CC
Mesabi CC
Lake Superior
Leech Lake
LCO CC
Bemidji State
University
College of St.
Scholastica
University of
Minnesota - Duluth
University of
Wisconsin - Superior
Other Tribal College
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General
Education
Program
College or
University
Course
Number &
Title
Credits
Awarded
MEsOther
8
General
Education
Program