This course allows students to gain familiarity with, and dive deeply into the scholarly literature on the Holocaust.  We also will integrate film, which increasingly complements and informs the history and historiography of the field.  We mainly seek to gain a sense of leading scholarship through published monographs (as opposed to a survey of events and interpretations).  Compared to other ways of approaching the Holocaust, we will pay close attention to Jewish history—in recognizing what was radically changed, and largely destroyed through Nazi genocide.  We also will examine some selected historical syntheses and anthologies of primary and secondary sources.  Students are expected to read a book each week, and will prepare at least two presentations on selected books.  (For class presentations students will locate and read scholarly reviews.) One of the distinctive features of this course will be discussions with some of the books’ authors, and discussions led by scholars who have recently engaged the respective fields. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the course will be run virtually. In the best of worlds, should circumstances allow, we would have the option for a 'live' seminar. In any case, there are certain to be improvisations along the way, and patience and perseverance is called for.      The major (written) assessment for the course is one essay of 3750 words, following the criteria of the departmental 'Style Sheet for Student Essays'.  (This is separate from the MA dissertation.)  The specific essay topic will be set separately for each student, and it is due after the end of the term in January 2021.  The essay does not necessarily entail original research.