GETR 3390/HIEU 3390: Nazi Germany (Spring 2014)

TuTh 9:30-10:45, Gibson Hall 342

Instructor: Manuela Achilles (Departments of German and History)

Office: Nau 255, Halsey Hall Annex B-103

Office Hours: T/Th 11:00-12:00, and by appointment

Course Description

This course examines the historical origins, political structures, cultural dynamics, and everyday practices of the Nazi Third Reich. All readings and discussions are in English. The course fulfills the second writing requirement; no prerequisites. Requirements include regular attendance, active participation, one in-class presentation, weekly reading responses, two essays, and a book review. There will be no mid-term or final examinations.

Required Books (available for purchase at the UVa Bookstore)

Tilman Allert, The Hitler Salute: One the Meaning of a Gesture, ISBN: 0312428308.
Wolfgang Benz, A Concise History of the Third Reich, ISBN: 0520253833.
Hans Fallada, Little Man – What Now? ISBN: 1933633646.
D. D. Guttenplan, The Holocaust on Trial, ISBN: 0393322920.
Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz, ISBN: 0-684-82680-1.
Deborah E. Lipstadt, The Eichmann Trial, ISBN: 0805242600.
Wendy Lower, Hilter’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields, ISBN: 9780547863382.
Stefan Maechler, The Wilkomirski Affair, ISBN: 0805211357.
Todd Strasser, The Wave, ISBN: 0440993717.

Assignments and Grading

20% Attendance and Participation
20% Reading Responses
10% Oral Presentation
15% Book Review
15% Short Essay #1
20% Short Essay #2

Attendance policy: Attendance in class is mandatory. You will be allowed one unexcused sick day, after which further unexcused absences will have a negative effect on your grade.

Oral presentation: Once during the semester, you will be asked to introduce the materials we have read or viewed for that class. This presentation should last ten to fifteen minutes. At the end of your introduction, you should ask three discussion questions. Feel free to bring in hand-outs or display images.

Weekly Reading Responses: On the days that are marked with an asterisk (*), you are expected to bring along to class two sentences (in writing) from the reading(s) assigned for that day. While you are free to choose any sentences that strike you as suitable, you might want to focus on the ones that you found (a) objectively most important and (b) subjectively most surprising or thought provoking. Please add a short explanation why you chose each of these sentences.

Your reading response should be typed, and should be no longer than one double-spaced page. You may be asked to present your sentences and explain your choices in class, and you will hand in a copy of your reading response at the end of class. This will give me an opportunity to monitor your progress and discuss it with you if I sense your grasp of the material isn’t perhaps as developed as it ought to be.

Written assignments: Over the course of this semester, you will write two 5-page essays and a book review. The assignments for the papers will be handed out approximately two weeks before their due date.

You will select the book to review from a list I will post on Collab at the beginning of class. You can hand in your review at any time during the semester; the final deadline is the last day of class.

All written work should be word-processed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font on paper with 1” margins. You will receive more information on all of the assignments as we get closer to their due dates.

Grading policy: Your papers will be graded on clarity, creativity, organization, writing style, and the effective use of evidence from the readings, films, lectures and discussions.

No late papers will be accepted without penalty except in cases of documented illness or severe personal emergency. The penalty for unexcused late essays is 1/3 of a grade for each day the essay is late. If you are concerned about meeting any of the deadlines, please notify me ahead of time.

Honor: It is expected that all wording and ideas presented in any written work handed in for this class are your own, unless you have explicitly credited your source/s. It is also assumed that any work turned in for this class was composed exclusively for this class. If you have questions about the honor code and related issues, please feel free to talk with me or go to: http://www.virginia.edu/honor/

Please Note: This syllabus, as well as all lecture notes, handouts, power points, study guides, and slides associated with this class may not be reproduced, posted on the internet, or otherwise distributed except with expressed written consent of the instructor. The unauthorized distribution or posting of my slides or any notes associated with this class is an Honor violation and a breach of copyright as I understand it.

The use of laptops, i-pads, or cell phones is not permitted in this class. Please plan on taking your notes the old fashioned way (pen and paper).

For more information, please contact me at ma6cq@virginia.edu.