Time and Place: 1942: Holocaust (V1331)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

This module offers you an opportunity to study the Nazis’ attempt to create a new world order by annihilating the Jews of Europe and targeting other groups –including gay people, gypsies and people with disabilities –for discrimination and death. It offers a multilayered examination of the transition from prejudice to exclusion, and to extermination, placing the Holocaust within the broader conceptual framework of genocide in the 20th century. We will consider issues such as: how was the so-called 'Final Solution to the Jewish problem' put into effect? Why is 1942 a key year in the development of the Final Solution? What part was played by the perpetrators across occupied Europe? We will consider the reaction of the victims, and explore possibilities of resistance. We will also deal with questions of justice and memory, and will ask whether it is accurate to characterise most people as bystanders.We pay close attention to how it was possible for a plan of mass murder to be carried out so effectively in such a short time at the hub of western civilisation; a plan which relied on the active involvement of many people and the acquiescence of even more.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 23 hours of contact time and about 127 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.