This is a shelf course. A shelf course comprises a number of modules related to this broad area of study. Each module is a separate semester of study in this area and is offered in rotation. You can study TWO modules but you cannot study the same module twice.

Subject Area: History

Module: "Holocaust and Genocide in Historical Perspective" (Semester 2, 2011)
The aim of 'Holocaust and Genocide' is to encourage an understanding of the phenomenon of genocide through incidences of mass killing of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The course begins with a four-week intensive study of the Holocaust, moving on from there to examine more recent acts of genocide and mass killing in Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda. The course also looks closely at the United Nations Genocide Convention and its role in the definition and prevention of genocide, as well as the International Criminal Court, so as to have an understanding of the role of the international community in the creation, and the prevention of such events.

Module: "The Idea of Israel: Nationalism to Statehood"
Where did the idea of Israel originate, and how has it been applied in the modern era? This course will explore the origins of modern Jewish nationalism, or Zionism, in the mid-nineteenth century and chart its developmetn through tot he creation of the State of Israel in 1948. We will discuss the influence of emancipation, nationalism, socialism and antisemitism on the Zionist movement. We will look at the practical development of Zionism, including the first waves of settlement, the Zionist World Congresses, and the development of the ""New Jew"". Finally, we will look at the situation in Palestine itself: the Ottoman Empire, the historic Jewish community, the presence of the British, and relations with the Arab population. Through this story, we will examine what constitutes nationhood, and how people envisaged modernity.