Spring 2023 - EDUC 710 G001

Special Topics

Silenced Histories of Racism & Genocide: Addres

Class Number: 1520

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 4 – Apr 11, 2023: Mon, 4:30–7:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Variable units: 3, 4, 5.

COURSE DETAILS:

How do we understand the impact of racial massacres and genocide, not only on victim groups, but on past and present perpetrator groups? What does it mean to implicated in racial and systemic violence, even if we did not directly commit these crimes? What is the nature of historical responsibility that crosses time and place and connects descendants of perpetrators with the crimes of their forebears? Why is it so difficult for members of the majority to confront and acknowledge their responsibilities, even in the face of the suffering that results from past and present racial violence?

This seminar will explore these questions by examining a selection of instances of mass violence, racism and genocide: Germany’s perpetration of the Holocaust; Japan’s wartime atrocities; Canada’s genocide of First Nations; the history of slavery in Canada; and the afterlife of lynching in the United States. In each instance, the impact of past violence into the present is considered, and the struggle with memory, responsibility and reconciliation is addressed. Different cultures of memory, approaches to education and conceptions of responsibility are explored.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Readings and class discussions help students draw connections between knowledge of racial violence and genocide, and lasting historical and emotional trauma it creates and the moral responsibility it presents. This course invites students to reflect on their own place in societies that are, or have been, directly responsible for racial and systemic violence and genocide.

Grading

  • Class presentation and Discussion 50%
  • Personal Narrative 25%
  • Final Essay 25%

REQUIREMENTS:

Regular attendence is essential; evidence of having done and engaged the readings.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Readings will include a selection of the following books:

Cooper, A. (2006). The Hanging of Angelique. Harper Perennial. ISBN: 978-0-00-639279-8

Frie, R. (2017). Not in My Family. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-937255-3

Ifill, S. (2018). On the Courthouse Lawn. Tenth-Anniversary Edition. Beacon Press. ISBN: 978-0-8070-2304-4

Regan, P. (2009). Unsettling the Settler Within. UBC Press. ISBN: 978-0-7748-1778-3

Rothberg, M. (2019). The Implicated Subject: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN: 9781503609594

Smith. D. L. (2020). On Inhumanity. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-092300-6

 


RECOMMENDED READING:

In addiiton to above texts above, readings will draw from journal articles and book chapters; a full list of readings be provided with the syllabus at the start of the course.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html