Germany & Poland

Program Description

The Holocaust: History, Memory and Commemoration will be a faculty-led study abroad course which confronts the history of the Holocaust through in-depth investigations into how the genocide of the European Jews -- the Holocaust -- was perpetrated, and then remembered and commemorated in Germany and Poland. The murder of European Jewry during World War II has become a pervasive aspect of public culture in the West. The Holocaust – the focus of films, theater, museums, memorials, oral history projects, public foundations and tourism – is now a central symbol of and a critical way to understand mass violence. This course critically examines the development and shape of the memory culture of the Holocaust in the United States, Germany, and Poland. 

Given the rigorous nature of a faculty led programs, students are restricted from leaving the program location during the official program dates.  Travel delays, border complications, and safety issues, etc. may impact student participation in the course. Students are allowed to travel within the program country during free time.  Free time may be used for assignments, reflection and suggested activities at the program director’s discretion. 

Course Goals

• Understand of the rise and operation of the Nazi regime and an understanding of the Holocaust, its causes, development, and legacies.
• Gain knowledge of the history of genocide and mass political violence.
• Develop insights into of the relationship between history and memory and the cultural products that institutionalize historical memory, as well as the ways in which the past can be mobilized for use in the present.
• Analyze the aesthetic and visual choices made by the cultural producers, artists, and architects of Holocaust museums and memorials.

Faculty Leader

Professor Marla Stone from the History department will lead the program. She has a MA and Ph.D. in modern European History with a subfield in the History of Fascism and Nazism from Princeton University. She has taught the history of Fascism, Nazism, and genocide for more than twenty years and has published and lectured extensively on the subject. In addition to twenty-one years on the Occidental faculty, she taught at the Tuzla International Summer University during the summer of 1996, 1998, and 2000, and she was a faculty member in the Trinity College Study Abroad program in Rome, Italy in the summer of 2007.

Itinerary

Program logistics (flights, etc.) will be discussed in the first week of class in Spring semester 2016. Do not book tickets until after this meeting. Participants who arrive early are responsible for their own lodging and meals. 

For a detailed itinerary click on the following link: Itinerary June 2016

Participants

One faculty member and between 13 and 15 students. The traveling portion of the course will require daily intellectual focus. Students will be spending most of their time together with Professor Stone which will require amicable group dynamics. For both of these to happen, participants must be mature, flexible, and eager to engage in the assignment that will be given on site on a daily basis. Because the course deals with mass violence, students must be prepared and willing to engage in an emotionally challenging experience. 

Requirements

Students should have taken some European history before participating in the course and should be at least sophomores.

Students will be expected to stand and move around for 5-6 hours per day including walking up-hill, stair climbing, walking on uneven pavement, walking in heat and/or light rain. Average temperatures in June are between 55-85 in Berlin and 60-72 in Poland.

Information Sessions

Come to the final info session to talk to the Professor & the IPO staff about the program:
Tuesday, October 6  12:15-1:00, JOHN 301

Cost $5,943 (subject to change)

$3,548 charged to student account (all course-related travel within Poland and Germany, some meals, museum entrances, academic resources, etc.)

$2,395 additional out-of-pocket expenses ESTIMATES (international airfare $1600, additional meals $675, Mandatory cell phone $120)

Financial Aid

The total additional cost will be included in Financial Aid calculations for spring semester 2016. A Financial Aid officer will to determine how your package may be adjusted depending upon your need. Please contact the Financial Aid Office with further questions.

Apply 

• Apply via this link. Application Deadline: 10/16/2015
• Faculty contact-Prof. Stone, mstone@oxy.edu
• International Programs Office contact-Julie Santos, jimenezj@oxy.edu