In addition to the coursework during the fall semester, the program will travel to Berlin for three weeks in winter of 2022-23. The itinerary will roughly be split into three segments:
Week 1: German History Pre-World War I
Students will visit the German Heritage Museum, the historic city of Potsdam, Frederick the Great’s palace Sans Souci, Humboldt University, the Bauhaus museum, etc. Students will understand Germany’s leading place in the world before the Nazi takeover, at the forefront of art, science, culture, and law.
Week 2: World War I, World War II and the Rise and Fall of the Nazis
Students will visit the stunning Kollwitz museum, the Reichstag, the Berlin Jewish museum, the Topography of Terror museum, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the site of the Wannsee Conference, etc. Students will relate these visits to material learned in HIST 350: Fascism and Nazism.
Week 3: German History Cold War-Present
Students will visit Checkpoint Charlie, the DDR museum, memorials to the Berlin Wall, etc., to show the history of West vs. East Berlin and the larger effects of Communism on Germany. Students will examine the Basic Law and consider its 70-year history. Students will consider how Germany today continues to grapple with its history.