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Syllabus Cultures of Memory in Germany and Europe - 54807
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Last update 06-09-2017
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: cont. german studies:politics, soc.&cult

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann


Coordinator Office Hours: Wednesdays, 8:00 - 10:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht Hartmann

Course/Module description:
The course introduces the impact of memory on post-war German and European culture and society. Particularly in Germany, memory cultures, especially those related to the Nazi past, have a significant impact on national self-perception. Similarly, the European Union adopted politics of memory as central aspect of constructing a sense of shared but contested European identity.

Course/Module aims:
The course evaluates central chapters of Germany’s (and Europe’s) coming to terms with the Nazi past. We will focus on significant memory cultures: Holocaust memory, the memory of terrorism, memory and migration, compare German memory culture with ways of dealing with the past in other countries (such as Austria), discuss different memory concepts, such as communicative, cultural and media memory, traveling memories, entangled memories, multidirectional memory, resonant memories and transnational memory.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- contextualize and analyze German postwar memory culture
- compare and evaluate changes and developments in German, Austrian and European memory cultures
- reflect the impact of memory on (shifting) identities
- read and understand theoretical concepts of memory

Attendance requirements(%):
80

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: The course combines the historical reconstruction of postwar German and current European memory cultures with key texts from the discipline of memory studies. Students contribute different tasks: presenting memory conflicts, introducing theoretical articles and critically reflecting memorials and media memory

Course/Module Content:
- Cultural, communicative and media memory
- Coming to terms with the past in Germany and Austria
- European memory culture
- Monuments, memorials and memory sites
- Film and memory
- Holocaust memory, memories of terrorism, migrant memories
- Transnational, traveling, entangled and multidirectional memory
- Memory and the city

Required Reading:
Assmann, Aleida. “Transformations of Holocaust Memory: Frames of Transmission an Mediation.” In: Holocaust-Cinema in the Twenty-First Century: Memory, Images, and the Ethics of Representation. Ed. Oleksandr Kobrynskyy and Gerd Bayer. New York: Wallflower, 2015. 23-40.

Assmann, Jan. “Collective memory and cultural identity.” New German Critique 65, 125- 133.

Erll, Astrid. “Travelling Memory.” Parallax, 17:4, 2011, 4-18.

Nora, Pierre. “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire.“ Representations, 26, 1989), 7-24.

Welzer, Harald. “Family Memories of World War II and the Holocaust in Europe, or Is There a European Memory?” Ed. P. Meusburger, M. Hefferman, Edgar Wunder. Cultural Memories: The Geographical Point of View. Heidelberg / London / New York: Springer 2011. 171-188.

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

Additional Reading Material:
Levy, D. and N. Sznaider. The Holocaust and Memory in the Global Age. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.

Neiger, M., Mayers, O. a., & Zandberg, E. (2011). On media memory: Collective memory in a new media age. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Olick, J. K. (2007). The politics of regret: On collective memory and historical responsibility. New York: New York : Routledge, 2007.

Olick, J. K. (2016). The sins of the fathers: Germany, memory, method. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press 2016.

Olick, J. K., Vinitzky-Seroussi, V., & Levy, D. (2011). The collective memory reader. New York: New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Rothberg, M. (2009). Multidirectional memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the age of decolonization. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2009.

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 30 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 50 %
Assignments 10 %
Reports 10 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
 
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.
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