This course is designed to engage students in conversations about particular perspectives on the history of a selected nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon as specified by the respective instructor. By taking this course, students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for, some combination of: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may also explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the complex political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors and subject will vary.

This course will focus on the theory and practice of propaganda during the 12 years of the Third Reich. It takes a close look at the ideology the Nazis tried to transmit, the techniques, organization, and effectiveness of their propaganda. Challenging the idea of the total power of propaganda, it looks for the limits of persuasion and possible other reasons for which Germans might have decided to follow Hitler. Sources will include the press, radio, film, photography, political posters, and a few literary works of the time. Finally, it will also be discussed to what extent techniques of propaganda continued to be used globally after 1945. In particular, the fascism studies of the Frankfurt School, which dealt with antisemitic demagogy in 1940s U.S. society, will be examined more closely. Important note about extremely disturbing course content: The course will include images, text, and film footage that are profoundly racist, misogynistic, antisemitic, anti-gay, and violence-glorifying. These images may be experienced by students as horrifying, frightening, thoroughly offensive, intimidating, and hurtful. It will nonetheless be our task in this course to understand and analyze the origins, strategies, and effects of these materials. Please consider whether you will be comfortable taking this course insofar as it requires viewing, reading, discussing, and writing about such shocking and execrable materials.

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Requirements class fulfills