HI503G: HITLER (2023-2024)

While Hitler tends to be reduced to a one-dimensional cardboard-cut-out villain outside of academia, inside academia there has been a tendency in recent years to diminish Hitler’s importance and to push Hitler to the side-lines. During the course, we will examine the degree to which Hitler did, or did not, matter as an actor in his own right. We shall do so by studying Hitler’s Mein Kampf, as well as a number of other documents. In the process, we shall discuss, amongst other questions, what difference Hitler’s texts and speeches made, how Hitler staged himself, why Hitler staged himself in the way that he did, and how Hitler’s transformation and radicalization had come about. We explore the nature of his rule, what we can learn about the nature of politics by studying Hitler, as well as his place in the 21st century.

A selection of scholars, policymakers, writers, curators, and film-makers will join us for a number of sessions to discuss their attempts with students of making sense of Hitler. The course will thus look at the latest thinking on Hitler as a historical figure, and it will attempt to understand the role of Hitler in today’s world.

Seminar discussions will be based on a broad range of primary and secondary sources to be read on a weekly basis.

This course is inspired by Aberdeen’s 2040 vision of creating a more inclusive, international, interdisciplinary, and sustainable future. In studying the breakdown of civilization and dignity, as well as the triumph of racism, violence, and a disregard for the lives of others and for the environment which we inhabit, it helps to tease out the success factors for building a more inclusive and resilient future. It does so by taking a multi- and interdisciplinary approach, bringing together scholarship and ideas from the world, exposing students to guest speakers from several countries.