Holocaust and Genocide MA/Diploma/Certificate

Core modules

All students will take the following core modules:

This module introduces you to both generic and subject-specific research skills. Generic study skills and research methods covered in the seminars may include academic writing skills (at Masters level), what is good research and how to choose a research topic, research ethics, research methodologies and fieldwork, working in archives and working with social media.

Subject specific sessions will stress the multi-and interdisciplinary character of studying the Holocaust and genocide and the diversity of approaches and disciplinary and theoretical interpretive frameworks that can be adopted. These sessions will explore some of the methodological challenges posed by the nature of the sources available (in some cases, by the absence, or fragmented nature, of those sources). Additional topics explored may include the importance of context – local, national and transnational - in determining interpretations of, and responses to, Holocaust and genocide; and the complexities of remembering, representing and memorializing atrocity, ‘dark tourism’, Holocaust and genocide. The teaching of the module is delivered in a two-day intensive block.
Assessment: 3500-word essay (90%) + completion and submission of a Dissertation Choice Form (10%)

This module explores the complexities and challenges of defining and studying the ‘Holocaust’ and ‘genocide’, both on their own terms and comparatively. Attention will be paid to ongoing disputes over what constitutes appropriate terminology in this subject area. This discussion will be contextualised within the emerging and developing fields of Holocaust studies and genocide studies and the complex and contested historiography of ‘Holocaust’, ‘genocide’ and their interrelationship.

Topics covered may include: ‘the politics of uniqueness’; interpretations of the Holocaust as ‘a mosaic of victims’; the relationship between Holocaust/genocide and war; the complexities of categories such as ‘victims, perpetrators and bystanders’; the significance of gender (e.g., ‘gendercide’); genocide and ‘prevention’; prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity; different manifestations of denial; and the growing phenomena of memorial museums and the controversies surrounding ‘exhibiting’ atrocity.
Assessment: 4,000-word essay

MA students will also take two additional core modules:

This module is designed to aid your planning and research for your dissertation. You will be supported to develop the relevant skills and produce a structured framework in the form of the preparation of a research proposal and literature review.
Assessment: 4,000-word dissertation portfolio

If you choose to complete a written dissertation, this will be a substantial and sustained investigation of an aspect of the Holocaust and/or genocide in history and/or memory, culminating in a 15,000-word dissertation.

The placement-based dissertation is designed to appeal to: (a) students who have already begun their careers, and for whom this is a return to studying after considerable time in employment; and (b) students wishing to enhance their employability by making links within different professions.

The aim of this module is to provide an alternative to the more traditional dissertation route. The module focuses on practical rather than academic skills, which will complement the academic courses on offer across the rest of the MA programme The module is designed for students who have a clear idea of the areas in which they wish to work, and will therefore enable those students to develop and hone skills relevant to their career paths.

Placements are approved on a case by case basis and are subject to restrictions in terms of appropriateness within the subject area, the relevant professional and academic qualifications of the student, and the availability of academic staff.

Assessment: for the placement-based dissertation requires completion of 100 hours on Placement + either (a) a 10,000 word dissertation critically analysing and evaluating reflecting on an aspect of the approach and/or work of the institution hosting the Placement. Or (b) write a report or conduct a piece of relevant research, or produce another form of media output for the Placement host.

Certificate students will take one optional module, while Diploma and MA students will take three optional modules. These can be chosen from the Department of Theology and Religion and the Department of Political Science and International Studies, or from the wider College of Arts and Law with the approval of the programme leader.

Options typically available within the Department of Theology and Religion include:

• Auschwitz in History and Memory
• Historical and Contemporary Debates on the Holocaust
• Jewish Religious Responses to the Holocaust
• Religion in Contemporary Global Politics I and II

Options previously available within the Department of Political Science and International Studies have included:

• Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and International Order
• Terrorism and Contemporary Conflict
• The Politics of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Totalitarianism and the State

Please note that the optional module information listed on the website for this programme is intended to be indicative, and the availability of optional modules may vary from year to year. Where a module is no longer available we will let you know as soon as we can and help you to make other choices.