The fact that the Nazis planned and administered what they called the Final Solution in and around Berlin makes the city an important location for any course dealing with the Holocaust. Berlin has also become an important location for the study of commemorative architecture, as the last decade has witnessed the emergence of many spectacular and controversial memorials, among them Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum and Peter Eisenman’s Holocaust Memorial. These “counter-monuments,” as they are often called, provide an important context for the study of Holocaust film and literature, in part because they are becoming popular destinations for tourists whose primary knowledge of the Holocaust is filmic and literary. Students participating in this course will have the opportunity to simultaneously engage all three representational forms, exploring the relation of memorial architecture to literature and film while learning about the international significance of Holocaust remembrance.

The course will be taught in cooperation with the international summer school at the Free University Berlin. This loose partnership will give American students the chance to interact with their counterparts from around the world, while participating in the academic and social activities organized as part of the Free University’s summer program. Students will be housed in university apartments, and they will have access to university libraries and computer resources, as well as to Berlin’s extensive public transportation network. These amenities—along with discounted meals at student cafeterias—are included in the price of tuition. Course time will be divided between class meetings, film screenings, and field trips to local museums and memorial sites. The course will be intensive, but students will have enough time to take advantage of the many cultural and social opportunities in Berlin, which is becoming one of the most popular destinations in Europe, especially for college-age travelers. Students may have the opportunity to extend their stay in university apartments if they wish to spend more time in Berlin or treat it as a home base for exploring other European cities.

The course will be worth eight units of credit in English; four of these units can be applied towards writing and general education requirements. Students from schools outside the UC system should check with their home institutions to determine the rules for transferring credits.

Enrollment is limited, so students may want to apply early in order to ensure a place in the course. Students must apply by 4pm on March 31st to be eligible to participate. Applications are available on-line at http://summer-abroad.ucdavis.edu. Interested students can also call the phone number provided below, or contact me directly at the following e-mail address.