This course examines the moral challenge of what it means to be ethical after Auschwitz. Using Hannah Arendt’s analysis of the concentration camp as a touchstone, it includes texts by Primo Levi, Victor Klemperer, Kant, Giorgio Agamben, Karl Jaspers, and Emmanuel Levinas, as well as poems by Nelly Sachs and Paul Celan, and the film Son of Saul. Course taught in English. May be elected as German Studies 215 for students with intermediate or advanced German language skills. Students electing to take the German Studies section will complete some reading in the original German and may complete some writing, and discussion assignments in German. Open to first-years, sophomores, and juniors; seniors by consent of instructor only.
Distribution Area
Students entering Fall 2024 or later: Textual Analysis (TA)
Students entering Fall 2024 or later: Global Cultures and Languages (GCL)
Students entering Fall 2024 or later: Writing Across Contexts (WAC)
Students entering Fall 2024 or later: Studying the Past (STP)
Students entering prior to Fall 2024: Cultural Pluralism (CP DIST)
Students entering prior to Fall 2024: Humanities (HU DIST)