Introduction (approx. 3 classes)      Film:  "The Pianist," Roman Polanski (France, 2002)       (Links:  Warsaw Ghetto Uprising   Mordecai Anielewicz, commander of the uprising      Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews)  Irena Sendler, Zegota rescuer) PART I:  THE PRIORITY OF THE OTHER (approx. 3 weeks) The hidden face of the existing God      Zvi Kolitz, Yosl Rakover Talks to God (1946, 1999)        Emmanuel Lévinas, “Loving the Torah More than God” (1963)        Leon Wieseltier,  “A Privation of Providence” (1999)       (Links:  Music of the Warsaw Ghetto: "Never Say that You Have Reached the      Final Road" (Zog nit keynmol) (1946)  Download free RealPlayer to hear music      Kansas students 'discover' Irena Sendler, Tzimtzum (God's withdrawal))  The priority of the other      Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995)         Interview with François Poirié  (1986)        Totality and Infinity:  An Essay on Exteriority (1961) (selections)       (Links:  Mythos and Logos site on Levinas (with links))      Film:  "Night and Fog", Alain Resnais (France, 1955)      (Link:  "Night and Fog" description,   Night and Fog Decree,   Night and Fog narration,      Dumling article on Eisler's music for "Night and Fog" )

PART II:  WRITING WITHOUT POWER  (approx. 3 weeks)
 

Sarah Kofman (1934-1994)        Rue Ordener, Rue Labat (1994)        Smothered Words (1987)        Jacques Derrida, "........" (1994)      Film: "The Long Way Home," Moriah Productions (USA, 1997) (selection)      (Links:  Marcelle B.'s account (Vel D'Hiver roundup),  Vichy France,  Violence against Jews in France today,      Anti-semitism in French schools today,  The Anatomy Lesson,  Review of "The Long Way Home")      Robert Antelme        The Human Race (1957)      Film:  "Eye of Vichy", Claude Chabrol (France, 1993)

PART III:  HUMANITY AS WHAT SURVIVES HUMANITY (approx. 3 weeks)
 

Primo Levi       Survival in Auschwitz (1958)       The Drowned and the Saved (1981)     Giorgio Agamben       Remnants of Auschwitz:  The Witness and the Archive (1999)     Film:  "The Grey Zone" (2002)

PART IV:  CRITIQUE OF THE PURE   (approx. 3 weeks)
 

Film:  “Jacques Derrida,” Wall to Wall Television Productions (England, 1992)      Jacques Derrida       Monolingualism of the Other; or, The Prosthesis of Origin (1996)       Interviews:  “Pardon Me for Taking You at Your Word” (1986), “Negotiations” (1987), “The Deconstruction of        Actuality” (1993), “Nietzsche and the Machine” (1993) “Différance” (1973)       "Avowing--The Impossible:  'Returns', Repentance and Reconciliation" (1998)       (Link:  Jacques Derrida, Geoffrey Bennington, Jacques Derrida)       Film:  “Kedma,” Amos Gitai (if available) (Israel)

COURSE TOPIC: some views of ethics since and in response to the Nazi death camps (subtopics: post-secularism, multiculturalism, colonialism, globalization)

COURSE GOAL:  increased understanding of course topics

COURSE TEXTS:
 Zvi Kolitz, Yosl Rakover Talks to God (Pantheon) (includes “Loving the Torah More than God,” and “A Privation of
    Providence”)
“Interview with François Poirier” (from Is It Righteous to Be?  Interviews with Emmanuel Lévinas, Stanford) (handout)
Emmanuel Lévinas, Totality and Infinity:  An Essay on Exteriority (Duquesne)

Sarah Kofman, Rue Ordener, Rue Labat (Bison Books)
-------- Smothered Words (Northwestern)
Jacques Derrida, "........" (from The Work of Mourning / Jacques Derrida, Chicago) (handout)
Robert Antelme, The Human Race (Northwestern)

Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz (Simon & Schuster)
-------- The Drowned and the Saved (Vintage)
Giorgio Agamben, Remnants of Auschwitz:  The Witness and the Archive (Zone Books)

Jacques Derrida, Monolingualism of the Other; or, The Prosthesis of Origin (Stanford)
Negotiations:  Interventions and Interviews, 1971-2001 (Stanford) (includes “Pardon Me for Taking You at Your Word,”  “Negotiations,” “The Deconstruction of Actuality,” “Nietzsche and the Machine”)
“Différance” (from Speech and Phenomena) (handout)
"Avowing--The Impossible"  'Returns', Repentance and Reconciliation" (1998)

FILMS:  The films treat or exemplify course themes.  Some assignments will refer to the films.  Films will generally be shown in the evening.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Readings as assigned
Participation in class discussions
Class attendance
Five take-home assignments
Two papers (around eight pages)

DIVERSITY COURSE REQUIREMENTS:  This course meets the requirements for a Core Curriculum Diversity course.  It focuses on excluded groups within western cultures, it has rigorous writings requirements and it is on the 200-level or above.

HOLOCAUST, GENOCIDE AND PEACE STUDIES ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS:  This course is a version of PHIL 401, Morality, and so meets the requirements for an elective in HGPS.

TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENTS:  There will be five take-home essays.  They will help students focus their reading and prepare to write the course papers.  Take-home #1  Take-home #2

PAPERS:  The papers will be essays (not research papers) on topics pertaining to the course texts and films.  They will be around eight pages long.  Paper #1Paper #2

You need use no books other than the course texts in order to write the essays.  In an essay, you state a thesis, explain it and argue for it.  The basic structure of an essay is:  an introduction in which you state your thesis, the body of the essay in which you explain and argue for your thesis, the conclusion in which you summarize or highlight what you have done in the essay.

Essays will be evaluated on the following basis:

1.  Do you have the parts mentioned above (introduction, body, conclusion)?
2.  Do you fulfill the functions mentioned above (state thesis, explain it, argue for it, summarize or highlight)?
3.  Is the thesis you are writing about an interesting and important one?
4.  Does your explanation of the thesis show that it is an interesting and important one?  Does your explanation make the basic concepts and terms in your essay clear to the reader?
5.  Are your arguments clear and convincing to the reader?
6.  Do you use specific examples from the text you are writing about to make your arguments stronger?  Do you use direct quotations from the text you are writing about to make your arguments stronger?
7.  Does your conclusion add something to the essay as a whole?

EVALUATION:
Grades will be based on the papers and take-home assignments, weighted equally (1/2 each).

Late papers or take-homes will lose a letter grade for each class session they are late.  There will be no extra credit work.  The student will be held responsible for knowing what goes on in class.  Absences will not excuse you from knowing due dates of take-homes and papers.

The grading scale is:  94-100, A; 90-93 A-; 87-89 B+; 84-86 B; 80-83 B-; 77-79 C+; 74-76 C; 70-73 C-; 67-69 D+; 64-66 D; 60-63 D-; below 60, F.

It is the instructor's policy that cheating, plagiarism or submission of written work for this course which was submitted in another course merits a course grade of 'F'.

GRADUATE STUDENTS:  This course is a 400-level undergraduate course offered also for graduate-level credit.  To receive graduate credit, graduate students will complete only three graded assignments, three papers around twelve pages each.  The papers will involve more extensive reading than undergraduate papers do.  Evaluation will be based on the three papers, weighted equally.  Graduate students will discuss their additional reading and their papers with the instructor prior to writing them and will take the initiative early in the semester to schedule a meeting with the instructor to do so.  All other requirements and procedures for graduate students are the same as those for undergraduate students.

Graduate students will meet the same evaluation criteria as undergraduate students and some additional criteria, namely:  Do the papers evidently derive from additional reading?  Does the student’s writing reflect broad familiarity with philosophic concepts and modes of argumentation?  Does the student’s writing reflect some understanding of the history of philosophic treatment of the concepts discussed?  Is the student able to sustain multifaceted argument and analysis?

Graduate students will achieve deeper understanding of the course material as a result of their additional reading and of their discussions with the instructor.

ATTENDANCE:  Much of the important work in this course goes on in class.  Students are expected to be in attendance except in cases of illness or emergency, to be in attendance for the whole class session and not to make appointments that conflict with class sessions.

COURSE LINKS:  The course outline and class assignments can be accessed through my homepage:  <www.unr.nevada.edu/~achten/homepage.html >.  They will also be distributed in class.  My homepage can also be accessed through the Department of Philosophy website:  <www.unr.edu/philosophy>;  through the University of Nevada, Reno homepage directory:  <unr.edu/homepage>; or by means of a search engine such as Google:  <www.google.com> (search for "Deborah Achtenberg" homepage).

CLASS FORMAT:  This class will be a combination of lecture and discussion.  The discussion generally will be guided discussion rather than general discussion or general debate.

Lectures and discussions will refer to course texts.  Students will need to bring the relevant course texts to class if they are to benefit from lectures and discussions.

STUDYING:  Many students will find that they do better in this course if they study together with other students.

DISABILITY POLICY:  The Department of Philosophy is committed to equal opportunity in education for all students, including those with documented physical or learning disabilities.  According to University policy, a student with a documented disability is required to contact his or her instructors during the first week of each semester to discuss accommodations appropriate to ensure equity in grading, classroom experiences and out-of-class assignments.  Each instructor will meet with the student and Student Services Center staff members to formulate a written plan for appropriate accommodations, if they are required.

My office hours are 8:30 - 9:30am, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 108D Cain Hall, or by appointment.  (Cain Hall is abbreviated 'EJCH' and is sometimes called the 'Old Education Building'.)  Please come by if you wish to discuss the course topics or your progress in the course.  I am happy to meet with you at other times should they be more convenient for you.  If you do wish to see me at some time other time, call 784-6742 (my office) to make an appointment.

If you try to get in touch with me and cannot, be sure to leave an answering machine message or a note with your phone number so that I can contact you.