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The Holocaust

Assumption University will once again offer our signature undergraduate course: The Holocaust (RELS 2045) for the Winter 2024 semester.  One of the primary goals of the course is to ensure that the lives of the victims and the experiences of the survivors will never be forgotten.

Course Code: RELS 2045

Course Section: 1

Course Term: Winter 2024

Course Level: Second-Year Course

Course Times: TBA

Course Dates: January 8, 2024 to April 8, 2024 + Final Assignment/Final Exam

Course Duration: 12 Weeks (Semester)

Course Credit: 3.00

Course Audit Available: Yes

Course Instructor: TBA

Course Delivery: Synchronous/Online (Via Zoom and Blackboard)

Course Prerequisites: None

Course Description

This course provides an interdisciplinary account of the Holocaust by examining historical narratives along with diverse primary and secondary sources. Students will learn about the initial discriminatory policies and political ideology and that quickly resulted in the systematic massacre of over six million Jews and others at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators. Students will discover how the Holocaust has been internalized by victims, survivors, and their descendants through various types of forms of expression, including by listening to guest speakers. Throughout the semester, students will reflect on the impact the Holocaust continues to have on the contemporary world with emphasis on Canadian society.

Learning Outcomes

  • Explore the origins of antisemitism that led to the persecution of European Jewry and eventually the Holocaust.
  • Describe the treatment of additional persecuted groups, including, but not limited to, Roma people, the disabled, LGBTQ persons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Eastern Europeans.
  • Identify the social, political, and economic conditions that allowed the Nazis to rise to power in Germany and throughout Europe.
  • Outline the various stages and events that culminated in the Final Solution and the creation of death camps.
  • Assess the role various individuals and resistance groups had in subverting the Nazi regime and saving human life.
  • Summarize the fate of Holocaust survivors with emphasis on living in the diaspora and settling in the newly established State of Israel.
  • Appraise how the Holocaust has been expressed in modern art, popular films, television series, graphic novels, and literary works.

Course Fees for 2023-2024 

$ 800.00 Canadian (For Credit)

$ 400.00 Canadian (For Audit)

Note: Audit students will not be required to complete the course assignments.

Special Transfer Agreements

St. Clair College students currently enrolled in any program may receive transfer credit for this course as a general elective/education course provided they obtain a minimum grade 60% in the course.

Brescia University College students currently enrolled in any program may receive transfer credit for this course provided they obtain a passing grade in the course.

Huron University College students currently enrolled in any program may receive transfer credit for this course provided they obtain a passing grade in the course.