Module HIST20D1: The Nazi Dictatorship: Culture and Society

Department: History

HIST20D1: The Nazi Dictatorship: Culture and Society

Prerequisites

• A pass mark in at least ONE level 1 module in History

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To introduce students to key theories and historiography relating to the history of the Third Reich, World War II and the Holocaust
• To apply these to appropriate historical context and content relating to mid-twentieth-century Germany / Europe, including original source material.
• To develop an understanding of the history of culture and everyday life in the Third Reich
• To contribute towards the achievement of the Department's generic aims for study at Level 2.

Content

• Widely considered to be one of the most destructive and murderous political regimes in history, National Socialism under Hitler’s dictatorship still exerts an extraordinary hold on the popular imagination. This course will explore culture and society during the Third Reich in depth, focusing especially on the experience of everyday life under Nazism. How was the regime able to seduce or terrorise its citizens into compliance, and how did National Socialist rule enable Germans to become willing facilitators of genocide? What were the consequences of Nazism for those excluded from the new German “racial community”? How did German society change during the war years, and was World War II in essence a “German war” or a “National Socialist” war for those Germans who fought in it?
• We will also consider key historiographical approaches to the Third Reich which have emerged over the past few decades, ranging from long-standing debates about consent and coercion to the first results of cutting-edge research on the formation of “bystander societies” in Nazi Germany and beyond.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and understanding of relevant theories and historiographical debates on Nazi Germany, World War II and the Holocaust.
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant historical context and content relating to mid-twentieth-century Germany / Europe.
• Critical use of historiographical concepts, theories and source criticism, especially with reference to cultural history and everyday life.

• Students will be introduced to primary source analysis, and should gain preliminary skills to evaluate both archival and oral historical sources.

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

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

• Student learning is facilitated by a combination of the following teaching methods:
• lectures to set the foundations for further study and to provide the basis for the acquisition of subject specific knowledge. Lectures provide a broad framework which defines individual module content, introducing students to themes, debates and interpretations. In this environment, students are given the opportunity to develop skills in listening, selective note-taking and reflection;
• seminars to allow students to present and critically reflect upon the acquired subjectspecific knowledge, methodologies and theories, and to identify and debate a range of issues and differing opinions. The seminar is the forum in which students are given the opportunity to communicate ideas, jointly exploring themes and arguments. Seminars are structured to develop understanding and designed to maximise student participation related to prior independent preparation. Seminars give students the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, encourage critical and tolerant approaches to reasoned argument and historical discussion, build the students' ability to marshal historical evidence, and facilitate the development of the ability to summarise historical arguments, think in a rapidly changing environment and communicate in a persuasive and articulate manner, whilst recognising the value of working with others and, occasionally, towards shared goals.
• Assessment:
• Unseen Examinations test students' ability to work under pressure under timed conditions, to prepare for examinations and direct their own programme of revision and learning, and develop key time management skills. The unseen examination gives students the opportunity to develop relevant life skills such as the ability to produce coherent, reasoned and supported arguments under pressure. Students will be examined on subject specific knowledge;
• Summative essays remain a central component of assessment in history, due to the integrative high-order skills they develop. Essays allow students the opportunity to recognise, represent and critically reflect upon ideas, concepts and problems; students can demonstrate awareness of, and the ability to use and evaluate, a diverse range of resources and identify, represent and debate a range of subject-specific issues and opinions. Through the essay, students can synthesise information, adopt critical appraisals and develop reasoned argument based on individual research; they should be able to communicate ideas in writing, with clarity and coherence; and to show the ability to integrate and critically assess material from a wide range of sources.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

A mock take-home examination in Epiphany Term..

■ 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