Module overview
Cold War is a peculiar conflict. Often seen as a confrontation between the Socialist East and Capitalist West, the Cold War is typically depicted as a bloodless standoff. In such interpretations, the Iron Curtain isolated Western from Eastern Europeans. Trapped in authoritarian, socialist regimes, the latter are depicted as yearning for the USA to break the stalemate and defeat the evil Soviet Empire. Jewish history helps us to shatter such stereotypical interpretations. From the vantage point of both Israel and the diaspora (Jews living outside of Israel), we can see the transnational contacts and conflicts in ways we would not see them from a solely national perspective. By following in the footsteps of Jewish survivors rebuilding their lives on both sides of the Iron Curtain, we can explore a new take on the history of the Cold War.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- key secondary sources relating to Jewish experiences and histories of the Cold War
- Jewish experiences and histories of the Cold War, in particular how studying this conflict from a Jewish perspective challenges stereotypical readings of it
- key primary resources relating to Jewish experiences and histories of the Cold War
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- research historical questions and communicate your findings convincingly and concisely in written essays and reviews.
- locate and use effective textual, visual and material culture sources in the library and on-line, synthesizing this material in order to develop cogent arguments.
- utilize and develop your time-management skills.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- engage with secondary literature on the Cold War, and contribute to the debates relating to the Jewish experience of the conflict.
- structure your ideas and research findings into well-ordered essays on aspects of the Jewish experience of the Cold War.
- analyze critically a variety of textual, visual and material culture sources relating to the Jewish experience of the Cold War.
Syllabus
Topics covered on the module may include:
The stories of the Holocaust survivors resettling in the diaspora; the creation and history of the State of Israel; stories of transnational connections between Socialist and Communist blocks as seen from the perspective of Jewish actors; the history of wars and covert operations pertaining to the history of Israel.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include lectures and seminars.
Learning methods include close analysis of a range of primary sources and discussion of key themes and ideas.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Completion of assessment task | 50 |
| Lecture | 12 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 76 |
| Seminar | 12 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Fink, Carole (2019). West Germany and Israel : Foreign Relations, Domestic Politics, and the Cold War, 1965-1974.. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Zertal, Idith (1998). From Catastrophe to Power : Holocaust Survivors and the Emergence of Israel.. Berkley, CA.: University of California Press.
Peretz, Pauline. Translated by Ethan S Rundell. (2020). Let My People Go : The Transnational Politics of Soviet Jewish Emigration during the Cold War. London: Routledge.
Zahra, Tara (2011). The Lost Children : Reconstructing Europe's Families After World War II.. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.
Laron, Guy (2017). The Six-Day War : The Breaking of the Middle East. New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 60% |
| Written assignment | 40% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Resubmit assessments | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 60% |
| Written assignment | 40% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External