Topics in Israel Studies (280-4-1)
Topic
The Holocaust, and Its Memory in Israel
Instructors
Maayan Hilel
Crowe Hall, 5-155
Office Hours: Thursday 5:00 - 6:00
Dr. Maayan Hilel is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in Jewish & Israel Studies, and Assistant Director of the Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Northwestern University. She is a historian of the modern Middle East specializing in the cultural and social history of Palestine / the Land of Israel. Her book manuscript explores the emergence of modern leisure culture in Palestine's urban centers during the formative years of British rule (1918-1948). Relying on relational history, it examines intercommunal relations and cultural transformations within Jewish-Zionist and Palestinian-Arab societies. Through archival research in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, her research focuses on the ways in which members of marginalized social groups such as women, children, workers, and villagers participated, experienced, and interpreted major historical changes that unfolded at that time.
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-335: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
This course examines the origins, development, course, and consequences of the most comprehensive genocide in history and the ways it has been remembered by Israeli society. The first part of the course will focus on the persecution of Jews during the first half of the 20th century culminating in their genocide between 1939-1945. We will discuss Nazi ideology; the complex interface between the Nazi regime's espousal of racism and the motivation of perpetrators on the ground; the interface between politics and law; the victims' reactions to persecution; conditions of life in the ghettos and camps; the response of the international community; and the aftermath of the war. In the second part of the course, we will examine Israeli society's different and even contradicting attitudes toward the Holocaust. We will probe how the establishment of the State of Israel, the 1950s mass immigration, and the evolving Arab-Israeli conflict shaped Israelis' understanding and memory of the Holocaust.
Learning Objectives
-To acquire in-depth knowledge of the Holocaust and the ways it was understood and remembered in Israel.
-To shape informed opinion upon a contested historical period and encourage critical thinking in relation to it.
-Encourage active engagement in class discussions and in critical evaluation of primary and secondary sources.
-Develop writing, collaboration, and interpersonal communication skills.
Evaluation Method
Class participation: 20%
Discussion Posts: 15%
Mid-term Essay: 25%
Final project: 40%
Class Materials (Required)
Materials will be provided by the instructor.
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area