The Origins of Nazism

4 credits · Undergraduate credit

This course explores the origins and the outcomes of the Nazi seizure of power in German in 1933. Because no single factor can explain why Germans consented to Nazi rule of why so few resisted Nazi persecution and genocide, we will take multi-layered approach to this question, examining the relationships among the between political, cultural, and social, and economic change. First exploring the vibrant culture and fractured politics of the Weimar Republic in which the Nazis rose to power, we will then analyze the ideologies and practices of the Nazi "racial state" and the forces that drove it into war and genocide. Students will also examine the blurry lines between consent and dissent, complicity and resistance in the everyday lives of both perpetrators and victims of the regime. Team-taught by two professors from History and German, course materials will include not only historical texts, but also film, art, literature, and personal memoirs from the Weimar and Nazi periods.