Field Trip Holocaust Studies

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• interpret a site or space in a way that others can understand
• reflect on personal learning

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• create a guide to a heritage site or commemorative space
• understand how museums and heritage sites identify their publics and how this influences the way in which they interpret their space and/or collections
• critically assess the ways in which heritage sites or spaces engage with the memory of the Holocaust

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how a city has chosen to portray its links to the Holocaust through heritage sites and commemorative spaces
• the ways in which the Holocaust is presented to the public through heritage sites and commemorative spaces
• how a museum or heritage professional has interpreted the Holocaust for their audience

During your visit to the city you will explore key sites and spaces which have a link to the Holocaust and to Jewish life and culture. These sites will vary depending on the chosen city, but you should look to explore examples of: a Jewish Museum, a synagogue, a cemetery and a commemorative space/object - such a site or statue. While visiting the city you will keep a travel diary and create a guide to your chosen site/space.

Teaching and learning methods

Visits to heritage sites and spaces of commemoration or their online representations

Site specific analysis and discussion of how the spaces are presented

Creation of a guide to chosen space/site

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Diana I. Popescu (2022). Visitor Experience at Holocaust Memorials and Museums. Routledge (Taylor & Francis).

D.H. Magilow and L Silverman (2019). Holocaust Representations in History: an Introduction. Bloomsbury.

James E. Young (1994). The texture of memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning. Yale.

Ruth Ellen Gruber (2002). Virtually Jewish: reinventing Jewish culture in Europe. Berkeley.

Martin Winstone (2019). The Holocaust sites of Europe. Bloomsbury.

James E. Young (1994). Holocaust Memorials in History: The Art of Memory. Prestel.

Assessment strategy

The first written assignment is a guide for a chosen space/site. It will consist of:

an analysis of the context for the creation of the heritage site or commemorative space;

an overview of its history and of the changes in the way it was used, interpreted and/or featured in the history of Jews and public discourses more widely;

a discussion of any historiographical or public debates related to the site; and

an evaluation of the significance of the site or space in relation to Holocaust memory and heritage

The second written assignment will be a reflection on the field trip aimed for a non-specialist and non-academic audience. It will take the form of a blog that includes relevant detail of the sites visited and main activities undertaken during the trip and includes a personal reflection on what has been learnt and how the impact the field trip has had on an understanding of the Holocaust and of Jewish life and culture.

For students taking the module virtually, the second written assignment will be an analysis of Holocaust memorialisation online, using resources related to the city(ies) and/or country(ies) visited by the cohort. It will include an analysis of the way in which the Holocaust is presented to wider audiences through digital exhibitions or other resources (toolkits, catalogues, educational materials). It will evaluate the changes which have occurred recently in relation to the digital memorialisation of the Holocaust, applied to their specific case study.

The module will include formative assessment by way of feedback (oral or written) given to the group on the trip plan and a wider discussion of how sites and spaces are presented.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External