The Hebrew University Logo
Syllabus The Holocaust Collective Memory and Cinema - 50987
ςαψιϊ
Print
 
close window close
PDF version
Last update 23-09-2016
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: communication & journalism

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann


Coordinator Office Hours: Mondays, 10:00-12:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht Hartmann

Course/Module description:
The course analyses films from different countries and periods of time in relation to concepts of collective memory, conflict studies, the cinematic representation and non-representation of the Holocaust and transnational aesthetics.

Course/Module aims:
The course will provide interdisciplinary knowledge in transnational cinema studies, memory studies, Holocaust and European studies. The aim of the course is enabling the students to analyze visual culture in relation to social and historical discourses and to situate current cinema in a transnational as well as film historical context.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• learning about the history of Holocaust cinema as well as contemporary discourses on Holocaust memory
• analyzing films and applying knowledge of film language and aesthetics in order to understand them as social and historiographical mediators
• using and applying theoretical and empirical concepts of Holocaust memory (including memory conflicts) on popular visual culture
• conducting independent research on different films

Attendance requirements(%):
80 %

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: The course focuses on recent tendencies in contemporary World and European cinema to deal with the memories of the past. These films adopt transnational narratives and cinematic styles of trauma and rupture to visualize the presence of the past. Furthermore they resonate with current discourse on memory or provoke debates and conflicts about the past and its commemoration. The teaching is based on particular case studies that indicate new tendencies and trends of commemorating the Holocaust in context of European cinema and memory. The students will contribute to the seminar through independent research and analyzing of the films.

Course/Module Content:
Filming the Unimaginable? General Thoughts about Holocaust Cinema
Memories beyond borders: Holocaust cinema in a European framework
Gendered Memories – Women in Holocaust films
...

Required Reading:
• Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann. Migrating Images: Iconic Images of the Holocaust and the Representation of War in Popular Film. Shofar, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2010, 86-103.
• Thomas Elsaesser. German Cinema – Terror and Trauma: Cultural Memory since 1945. London: Routledge, 2013.
• Daniel Levy, Natan Sznaider. The Holocaust and Memory in the Global Age. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2005

A full reading list will be provided at the beginning of the seminar.

Additional Reading Material:
A full reading list will be provided at the beginning of the seminar.

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 30 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 70 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
• Oral Presentation
• Written analysis
• Review of a Holocaust related film
 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
Print