Lehrveranstaltung Ethnische Konflikte, Minderheiten, Migrationsfolgen (Vorlesung)

The very concept of “egodocuments” has only belatedly gained traction among historians and other scholars since the end of the twentieth century. With its implicit concern for subjectivity and personhood, it overlaps with key concerns in expanding fields such as the study of emotions and mentalities as well as the “personal” and “cultural turns” in the humanities. Relatively swiftly, Jewish studies scholars, among them scholars of the Holocaust, integrated and began to probe the concept in their work. Unsurprisingly, the concept has come to mean many different things to scholars from a variety of disciplines from German studies to psychology. Today, most scholars readily subsume, among others, diaries, “private” letters, memoirs, and oral sources such as audio-visual testimonies under the category.

This upper-level class for graduate students probes the usefulness and pitfalls of egodocument concepts and approaches in the study of twentieth-century German Jewish history. It explores the scholarly debates related to these approaches and sources and continues the work of scholars in the field, including studies by the course instructors (see below). Using an array of sources, including collections from German and Israeli archives, each student will conduct a short research project and write paper of their own.

This course is part of a new initiative of Open University of Israel, the Technische Universität Berlin, and the University of Colorado Boulder. It aims at providing students at the three universities with innovative ways of learning and researching together in a virtual classroom as well as a short in-person “seminar” in Berlin and jointly explore topics in—but not limited to—Jewish, Holocaust, and Antisemitism studies. The course is team-taught by three instructors (one from each of the partner institutions).

The number of participants is limited to ten students. Language of instruction will be English. Participation in the core seminar between 6 and 11 November is absolutely mandatory without exception. A preliminary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 14 October, 4 to 6 p.m. There will be one more preliminary (zoom) meeting with the US and Israeli students.

Readings: Amos Goldberg, Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing during the Holocaust, Bloomington 2017; Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941, New York 1999; Guy Miron, Space and Time under Persecution: The German-Jewish Experience in the Third Reich, Chicago 2023; Thomas Pegelow Kaplan et al., Holocaust Testimonies: Reassessing Survivors’ Voices and Their Future in Challenging Times, New York 2025; Marion A. Kaplan, Jewish Daily Life in Germany, 1618-1945, Oxford 2005). (German language editions available)

The very concept of “egodocuments” has only belatedly gained traction among historians and other scholars since the end of the twentieth century. With its implicit concern for subjectivity and personhood, it overlaps with key concerns in expanding fields such as the study of emotions and mentalities as well as the “personal” and “cultural turns” in the humanities. Relatively swiftly, Jewish studies scholars, among them scholars of the Holocaust, integrated and began to probe the concept in their work. Unsurprisingly, the concept has come to mean many different things to scholars from a variety of disciplines from German studies to psychology. Today, most scholars readily subsume, among others, diaries, “private” letters, memoirs, and oral sources such as audio-visual testimonies under the category.

This upper-level class for graduate students probes the usefulness and pitfalls of egodocument concepts and approaches in the study of twentieth-century German Jewish history. It explores the scholarly debates related to these approaches and sources and continues the work of scholars in the field, including studies by the course instructors (see below). Using an array of sources, including collections from German and Israeli archives, each student will conduct a short research project and write paper of their own.

This course is part of a new initiative of Open University of Israel, the Technische Universität Berlin, and the University of Colorado Boulder. It aims at providing students at the three universities with innovative ways of learning and researching together in a virtual classroom as well as a short in-person “seminar” in Berlin and jointly explore topics in—but not limited to—Jewish, Holocaust, and Antisemitism studies. The course is team-taught by three instructors (one from each of the partner institutions).

The number of participants is limited to ten students. Language of instruction will be English. Participation in the core seminar between 6 and 11 November is absolutely mandatory without exception. A preliminary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 14 October, 4 to 6 p.m. There will be one more preliminary (zoom) meeting with the US and Israeli students.

Readings: Amos Goldberg, Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing during the Holocaust, Bloomington 2017; Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941, New York 1999; Guy Miron, Space and Time under Persecution: The German-Jewish Experience in the Third Reich, Chicago 2023; Thomas Pegelow Kaplan et al., Holocaust Testimonies: Reassessing Survivors’ Voices and Their Future in Challenging Times, New York 2025; Marion A. Kaplan, Jewish Daily Life in Germany, 1618-1945, Oxford 2005). (German language editions available)

The very concept of “egodocuments” has only belatedly gained traction among historians and other scholars since the end of the twentieth century. With its implicit concern for subjectivity and personhood, it overlaps with key concerns in expanding fields such as the study of emotions and mentalities as well as the “personal” and “cultural turns” in the humanities. Relatively swiftly, Jewish studies scholars, among them scholars of the Holocaust, integrated and began to probe the concept in their work. Unsurprisingly, the concept has come to mean many different things to scholars from a variety of disciplines from German studies to psychology. Today, most scholars readily subsume, among others, diaries, “private” letters, memoirs, and oral sources such as audio-visual testimonies under the category.

This upper-level class for graduate students probes the usefulness and pitfalls of egodocument concepts and approaches in the study of twentieth-century German Jewish history. It explores the scholarly debates related to these approaches and sources and continues the work of scholars in the field, including studies by the course instructors (see below). Using an array of sources, including collections from German and Israeli archives, each student will conduct a short research project and write paper of their own.

This course is part of a new initiative of Open University of Israel, the Technische Universität Berlin, and the University of Colorado Boulder. It aims at providing students at the three universities with innovative ways of learning and researching together in a virtual classroom as well as a short in-person “seminar” in Berlin and jointly explore topics in—but not limited to—Jewish, Holocaust, and Antisemitism studies. The course is team-taught by three instructors (one from each of the partner institutions).

The number of participants is limited to ten students. Language of instruction will be English. Participation in the core seminar between 6 and 11 November is absolutely mandatory without exception. A preliminary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 14 October, 4 to 6 p.m. There will be one more preliminary (zoom) meeting with the US and Israeli students.

Readings: Amos Goldberg, Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing during the Holocaust, Bloomington 2017; Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941, New York 1999; Guy Miron, Space and Time under Persecution: The German-Jewish Experience in the Third Reich, Chicago 2023; Thomas Pegelow Kaplan et al., Holocaust Testimonies: Reassessing Survivors’ Voices and Their Future in Challenging Times, New York 2025; Marion A. Kaplan, Jewish Daily Life in Germany, 1618-1945, Oxford 2005). (German language editions available)

The very concept of “egodocuments” has only belatedly gained traction among historians and other scholars since the end of the twentieth century. With its implicit concern for subjectivity and personhood, it overlaps with key concerns in expanding fields such as the study of emotions and mentalities as well as the “personal” and “cultural turns” in the humanities. Relatively swiftly, Jewish studies scholars, among them scholars of the Holocaust, integrated and began to probe the concept in their work. Unsurprisingly, the concept has come to mean many different things to scholars from a variety of disciplines from German studies to psychology. Today, most scholars readily subsume, among others, diaries, “private” letters, memoirs, and oral sources such as audio-visual testimonies under the category.

This upper-level class for graduate students probes the usefulness and pitfalls of egodocument concepts and approaches in the study of twentieth-century German Jewish history. It explores the scholarly debates related to these approaches and sources and continues the work of scholars in the field, including studies by the course instructors (see below). Using an array of sources, including collections from German and Israeli archives, each student will conduct a short research project and write paper of their own.

This course is part of a new initiative of Open University of Israel, the Technische Universität Berlin, and the University of Colorado Boulder. It aims at providing students at the three universities with innovative ways of learning and researching together in a virtual classroom as well as a short in-person “seminar” in Berlin and jointly explore topics in—but not limited to—Jewish, Holocaust, and Antisemitism studies. The course is team-taught by three instructors (one from each of the partner institutions).

The number of participants is limited to ten students. Language of instruction will be English. Participation in the core seminar between 6 and 11 November is absolutely mandatory without exception. A preliminary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 14 October, 4 to 6 p.m. There will be one more preliminary (zoom) meeting with the US and Israeli students.

Readings: Amos Goldberg, Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing during the Holocaust, Bloomington 2017; Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941, New York 1999; Guy Miron, Space and Time under Persecution: The German-Jewish Experience in the Third Reich, Chicago 2023; Thomas Pegelow Kaplan et al., Holocaust Testimonies: Reassessing Survivors’ Voices and Their Future in Challenging Times, New York 2025; Marion A. Kaplan, Jewish Daily Life in Germany, 1618-1945, Oxford 2005). (German language editions available)

The very concept of “egodocuments” has only belatedly gained traction among historians and other scholars since the end of the twentieth century. With its implicit concern for subjectivity and personhood, it overlaps with key concerns in expanding fields such as the study of emotions and mentalities as well as the “personal” and “cultural turns” in the humanities. Relatively swiftly, Jewish studies scholars, among them scholars of the Holocaust, integrated and began to probe the concept in their work. Unsurprisingly, the concept has come to mean many different things to scholars from a variety of disciplines from German studies to psychology. Today, most scholars readily subsume, among others, diaries, “private” letters, memoirs, and oral sources such as audio-visual testimonies under the category.

This upper-level class for graduate students probes the usefulness and pitfalls of egodocument concepts and approaches in the study of twentieth-century German Jewish history. It explores the scholarly debates related to these approaches and sources and continues the work of scholars in the field, including studies by the course instructors (see below). Using an array of sources, including collections from German and Israeli archives, each student will conduct a short research project and write paper of their own.

This course is part of a new initiative of Open University of Israel, the Technische Universität Berlin, and the University of Colorado Boulder. It aims at providing students at the three universities with innovative ways of learning and researching together in a virtual classroom as well as a short in-person “seminar” in Berlin and jointly explore topics in—but not limited to—Jewish, Holocaust, and Antisemitism studies. The course is team-taught by three instructors (one from each of the partner institutions).

The number of participants is limited to ten students. Language of instruction will be English. Participation in the core seminar between 6 and 11 November is absolutely mandatory without exception. A preliminary meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 14 October, 4 to 6 p.m. There will be one more preliminary (zoom) meeting with the US and Israeli students.

Readings: Amos Goldberg, Trauma in First Person: Diary Writing during the Holocaust, Bloomington 2017; Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941, New York 1999; Guy Miron, Space and Time under Persecution: The German-Jewish Experience in the Third Reich, Chicago 2023; Thomas Pegelow Kaplan et al., Holocaust Testimonies: Reassessing Survivors’ Voices and Their Future in Challenging Times, New York 2025; Marion A. Kaplan, Jewish Daily Life in Germany, 1618-1945, Oxford 2005). (German language editions available)