Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for HST 285 Winter 2025


Course Number:
HST 285
Course Title:
The Holocaust
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Introduces the aftermath of World War I and the rise of the Nazis. Covers the historical roots of anti-Semitism, the evolution of the Final Solution and its coordination in Nazi-occupied Europe, the victims of Nazi policies, the camps, the perpetrators, bystanders, and the aftermath of the Holocaust. Prerequisites: WR 115, RD 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement test scores. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  • Articulate and interpret an understanding of key historical facts and events leading to and during the Holocaust.
  • Identify the influence of culturally based practices, values, and beliefs to analyze how historically defined meanings of difference affect human behavior.
  • Identify and investigate historical theses, evaluate information and its sources, and use appropriate reasoning to construct evidence-based arguments on historical issues.
  • Construct a well-organized historical argument using effective, appropriate, and accurate language.

Social Inquiry and Analysis

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to apply methods of inquiry and analysis to examine social contexts and the diversity of human thought and experience.

General education philosophy statement

This course requires students to focus on the history of the Holocaust from a variety of different perspectives, considering the ways in which the experiences of people in the past have been shaped by factors like social class, gender, race, religious belief, and ideology. Students must also evaluate relationships between different cultures, whether defined in terms of political identity (such as interactions between the people of two or more nations) or in terms of cultural groups within a larger society. One of the key goals of this course is to provide a perspective on the contemporary world that is grounded in a robust and accurate understanding of the past, ultimately in the name of encouraging a greater sense of social responsibility.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

The SAC assumes that faculty will assess student learning using some combination of the following assessment strategies:

  • Exams consisting of essay or other method that integrates and requires application of concepts, themes and issues in the course.
  • Written assignments such as papers, reviews, journals and other writing assignments that demonstrate understanding of content knowledge and appropriate application by students of historical materials.
  • Oral presentations, discussions, debates, or role-playing that articulate a comprehensive knowledge of appropriate historical concepts and issues.
  • Projects where students can identify historical resources and utilize these resources to evaluate their validity.
  • Use standard research techniques and acceptable formats in written work and oral presentations.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Course Content:

Competencies and skills:

  • Analyze and evaluate historical interpretations on the origins and implementation of the Holocaust
    • Identify an historian’s thesis and supporting evidence in Holocaust-related articles and books
  • Analyze and evaluate primary sources related to the Holocaust
    • Connect evidence to the relevant historical context of the Holocaust
    • Recognize and evaluate the creator of historical sources
  • Recognize prejudicial acts that occurred in Germany and in Europe prior to and during the Holocaust era
    • Analyze the role of nationalism in Germany
    • Recognize cultural diversity and the rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups to exercise their cultural traditions
    • Analyze the substance of Nazi laws
    • Evaluate the use of various forms of internment including prisons, camps and ghettos
  • Listen, appreciate and respectfully respond to fellow classmates during discussions of various aspects of the Holocaust
    • Work collaboratively with fellow students in discussing aspects of the Holocaust

Themes, Concepts, Issues

  • Cultural diversity
  • Prejudice and racism
  • Anti-Semitism
  • Post World War I Germany
  • The rise of the Nazis
  • Social, economic and political isolation of German Jews prior to 1939
  • Evolution of the Final Solution
  • Life in the ghettos and camps
  • Other groups targeted by the Nazis
  • Perpetrators
  • Bystanders
  • Resistance
  • Aftermath of the Holocaust