Holocaust: GenderRacial Ideol

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Holocaust: This course examines how Nazi racial ideology dictated peoples lives before and during the Holocaust. The class will discuss to what extent pre-World War II gender roles helped victims not only develop important survival skills, but also affected decisions of ordinary men and women to become killers. Using primary, secondary sources and film, we will discuss the experiences of men, women, and children during the Holocaust both from the perspective of victims and perpetrators. The different source materials will be historically contextualized to strengthen and expand the understanding of how Nazi polices affected both men and women, while examining how racial theory and the concept of “master race” contributed to the suffering of Jews and other victims before and during World War II. This class does not require any background in Jewish, Holocaust or Gender studies.