This is a seminar about the Holocaust as it has been depicted in books, film, and written or oral testimony by survivors. The Holocaust is aptly conceived as a locus for studying the most basic and urgent problems of aesthetics and authority, of metaphorizing memory and pain, of representing evil, of symbolism and action, of narrative immediacy and political truth-telling, and of testimony (witness-bearing) as legal and language forms. Participants in the seminar will approach all these topics through interactive discussions of a wide variety of films, commentaries, literary texts, testimonies, and theoretical writings about the Holocaust.

The course is primarily for first-year students. Sophomores may enroll only by permission of the instructors.

Assignments will include frequent short papers and a final exam. In addition to attending all regular class meeting times, students will be expected to attend all film screenings (most Mondays at 4 PM).