Module HIST43030: Totalitarian Cultures? The Arts and Society in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany

Department: History

HIST43030: Totalitarian Cultures? The Arts and Society in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To gain an advanced understanding of themes and debates about totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Content

• Adopting an explicitly comparative approach, the module invites students to consider and question the concept of totalitarianism and its relevance. It focuses on the experience of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but draws on a wider comparative and theoretical literature on the nature of power, the state and meanings for the mass and the individual. Seminars are student-led and constructed around their research interests. The range of themes to be studied may include the fine arts and popular culture, patterns and interpretation of reception, and the role of censorship and self-censorship.

Learning Outcomes

• advanced knowledge and understanding of key issues and debates about the nature of culture and power in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/history.internal/local/PGModuleProformaMap/

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/history.internal/local/PGModuleProformaMap/

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Student learning is facilitated by a range of teaching methods.
• Seminars and Group Discussion require students to reflect on and discuss: their prior knowledge and experience; set reading of secondary and, where appropriate, primary readings; information provided during the session. They provide a forum in which to assess and comment critically on the findings of others, defend their conclusions in a reasoned setting, and advance their knowledge and understanding of culture and power in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and the concept of ‘totalitarian culture’.
• Structured reading requires students to focus on set materials integral to the knowledge and understanding of the module. It specifically enables the acquisition of detailed knowledge and skills which will be discussed in other areas of the teaching and learning experience.
• Assessment is by means of a 5000 word essay which requires the acquisition and application of advanced knowledge and understanding of an aspect of the history of culture and power in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Essays require a sustained and coherent argument in defence of a hypothesis, and must be presented in a clearly written and structured form, and with appropriate apparatus.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One or more short assignments delivered orally and discussed in a group context.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University