Image credit: “Wymarsz komand do praxy” (“Marching to work”), from the cycle “Day of the prisoner” (1950), by Mieczysław Koscielniak. Published in M. Koscielniak: Bilder von Auschwitz, 2nd ed.
COurse Requirements
Attendance and Participation (20%)
All Wittenberg English classes are based on skills development (writing, analysis, argumentation, academic citation, research, etc.), and on class discussion, so active student engagement in our courses is vital. Multiple learning processes may be practiced and refined in any given class meeting. Frequent absences for any reason will interfere with those learning processes, and by extension, will compromise skill acquisition and lead to limited improvement in the quality of a student’s work. Furthermore, frequent absences disrupt class discussions, which often build on knowledge gained in previous classes.
We understand that students sometimes must miss class due to illness, for other university-sponsored events, and for personal reasons. For clarity, and particularly to serve those for whom college is a very new experience, we have decided to draft the following department-wide attendance policy, which applies to all students:
While no one is encouraged to miss classes unnecessarily:
Students who miss class for any reason are still responsible for any missed information, and are expected to communicate prior to returning to class, to get notes and handouts from a classmate and/or Moodle.
In-class participation is a part of your grade, and will be a portion of the points per class (depending on how much full class discussion or group work we’re doing on a given day). If you are painfully shy, then please talk to me at the beginning of the semester, and we will work out a way for you to fulfill the participation requirement. Unless I have talked with you about it, I am not averse to calling on you randomly in class if my questions are met with silence.
Points per class are awarded as follows: 1=butt in seat, 2=mostly paying attention, 3=definitely paying attention, 4=offers short answer, 5=offers substantive answer. You must substantively participate in large group discussion at least once per week to get full credit at the end of the term--there are 32 classes, and at least 20 of them will have some discussion. So, for example, if you always come prepared to talk about the material and regularly respond, if there are 20 class discussions, you will receive 100/100. If you simply clearly pay attention, you will receive a 60/100. As a final note, you must complete all of your reading and be able to discuss it in order to get full points for the day.
Design and maintenance of your own website (no knowledge of coding is required)
Unless you have a specific preference, please use Weebly as your basic site. I will walk you through the steps for set-up in class.
Presentation (10%)
You will present on a Holocaust-centered digital humanities project of your choosing. You may choose any number of possible projects, and the only parameters in terms of topic is that it must in some way deal with the Holocaust and digital culture. You may do this at any time during the semester, although you must have presented after the first two weeks and before the final two weeks. Guidelines are as follows:
Timeline Project (10%)
The first short project will see you engaging with the history and artistic representations of the Holocaust in different survivor accounts.
Mapping Project (25%)
The second short project with work with the intersections between survivor narratives and place/space. Must be unique—focus on a camp or ghetto, using questions we explored regarding the representations of Auschwitz.
Mini PodCast (25%)
A 15 minute podcast on some question relating to Holocaust studies.
Final Portfolio (10%)
A website devoted to exploring some aspect of Holocaust studies in the contemporary mediascape.
All Wittenberg English classes are based on skills development (writing, analysis, argumentation, academic citation, research, etc.), and on class discussion, so active student engagement in our courses is vital. Multiple learning processes may be practiced and refined in any given class meeting. Frequent absences for any reason will interfere with those learning processes, and by extension, will compromise skill acquisition and lead to limited improvement in the quality of a student’s work. Furthermore, frequent absences disrupt class discussions, which often build on knowledge gained in previous classes.
We understand that students sometimes must miss class due to illness, for other university-sponsored events, and for personal reasons. For clarity, and particularly to serve those for whom college is a very new experience, we have decided to draft the following department-wide attendance policy, which applies to all students:
While no one is encouraged to miss classes unnecessarily:
- Each student in a standard class (four credits / full semester) that meets two times a week (usually “T/Th”) may miss up to 3 classes, for any reason, with no specific grade penalty.
- Beyond that minimal number, additional absences will affect the student’s grade:
- In a “T/Th” course, you will be docked 1/ 3 of a letter grade for the 4th and 5th absence.
- Under some documented and reviewed circumstances, a faculty member may take into account cases of chronic illnesses, disabilities, and other extreme circumstances. Students requesting to establish reasonable accommodations due to a disability or chronic illness need to register with Accessibility Services. Services are confidential. Accommodations may take time to put into place and are not retroactive. Students are responsible for maintaining their own files of documents related to any absences.
- When a student has reached 6 “T/Th” standard classes (or the equivalent of three full weeks of class meetings), they are no longer able to pass the class and will receive an automatic F. At this point, you will be asked to withdraw from the course [Minutes: 570 T/Th]
- Other credit / term options will normally be proportional to the above policies.
Students who miss class for any reason are still responsible for any missed information, and are expected to communicate prior to returning to class, to get notes and handouts from a classmate and/or Moodle.
In-class participation is a part of your grade, and will be a portion of the points per class (depending on how much full class discussion or group work we’re doing on a given day). If you are painfully shy, then please talk to me at the beginning of the semester, and we will work out a way for you to fulfill the participation requirement. Unless I have talked with you about it, I am not averse to calling on you randomly in class if my questions are met with silence.
Points per class are awarded as follows: 1=butt in seat, 2=mostly paying attention, 3=definitely paying attention, 4=offers short answer, 5=offers substantive answer. You must substantively participate in large group discussion at least once per week to get full credit at the end of the term--there are 32 classes, and at least 20 of them will have some discussion. So, for example, if you always come prepared to talk about the material and regularly respond, if there are 20 class discussions, you will receive 100/100. If you simply clearly pay attention, you will receive a 60/100. As a final note, you must complete all of your reading and be able to discuss it in order to get full points for the day.
Design and maintenance of your own website (no knowledge of coding is required)
Unless you have a specific preference, please use Weebly as your basic site. I will walk you through the steps for set-up in class.
Presentation (10%)
You will present on a Holocaust-centered digital humanities project of your choosing. You may choose any number of possible projects, and the only parameters in terms of topic is that it must in some way deal with the Holocaust and digital culture. You may do this at any time during the semester, although you must have presented after the first two weeks and before the final two weeks. Guidelines are as follows:
- 15 minute presentation
- Focused on one digital humanities project (including archives (video, text, document, photograph, etc.), podcasts, storytelling projects, online museums and/or memorials, etc.)
- First, give a summary of the project (topic, focus, parameters, goals, and uses)
- Next, demonstrate some of the features of the project
- Next, comment on the practical applications of this project (both in terms of scholarly work and public uses), and why this project took this form rather than being a traditional essay
- Finally, make a nuanced argument as to the project’s utility, including thoughtful reflection on its limitations and how it sits at tension with its form
Timeline Project (10%)
The first short project will see you engaging with the history and artistic representations of the Holocaust in different survivor accounts.
- Must be unique—focus on aspects of the text that stood out most to you
- Include images, video, sound clips
- Include interviews, segments of the novel, photographs, etc.
Mapping Project (25%)
The second short project with work with the intersections between survivor narratives and place/space. Must be unique—focus on a camp or ghetto, using questions we explored regarding the representations of Auschwitz.
- Include images, video, sound clips
- Include interviews, segments of novel, photographs, etc.
Mini PodCast (25%)
A 15 minute podcast on some question relating to Holocaust studies.
Final Portfolio (10%)
A website devoted to exploring some aspect of Holocaust studies in the contemporary mediascape.