ATS3583 - History and film: Nazi Germany and the Jewish Holocaust - 2018

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Noah Shenker

Coordinator(s)

Dr Noah Shenker

Not offered in 2018

Prohibitions

ATS2583

Synopsis

This unit examines film as a source of historical evidence and inquiry, specifically exploring the historical, cultural, and ethical debates surrounding depictions of the Holocaust in film and other media. It considers the prospects of documenting and representing the Holocaust in a period marked by a decline in the numbers of living historical witnesses and survivors, but a proliferation of film and media portraying their experiences. Central to this unit are issues pertaining to the limits and possibilities of representing the Holocaust and to the larger challenges and opportunities of utilizing works of film and media as sources of history.

Outcomes

Students successfully completing this subject will be able to understand:

  1. The nature of historical film and media in their various forms.
  2. The criteria for assessing the merits of historical film and media, and the ways film and other media differ from other forms of historical representation.
  3. The influence of film and media in the past and upon later historical understanding.
  4. Ethical and historical considerations of the limits and possibilities of representing the Holocaust in particular and genocide and trauma more generally in film and media.
  5. The ways in which film and media can extend and challenge our understanding of history as a discourse.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study