Conference: ‘Another time, Another place? Challenges in Commemorating, Teaching and Researching the Holocaust 70 Years On’

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Wednesday, 22 April, 2015
Second Annual Conference of the British Association for Holocaust Studies
21-22 July 2015, University of Birmingham

2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the death marches, the liberation of Auschwitz and concentration camps in western Europe, the end of World War II, and early postwar trials including the First Bergen-Belsen Trial and the opening of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. This sequence of anniversaries is an appropriate time to reflect on 70 years of research, education, public commemoration, musealization and cultural production, paying particular attention to the British and European contexts. It is an appropriate time to consider both what has been achieved, where there is now consensus, what remains contested, is being re-examined, and/or only now beginning to be explored. What should be our priorities in the short, medium and long-term, and do these vary depending on the local or national context, or the community of memory?

All conferences of the British Association for Holocaust Studies (BAHS) are inter- and cross-disciplinary, bringing together academics, teachers and practitioners, particularly those working in museums and at memorial sites. BAHS invites papers which consider the following:

  • Current national priorities in researching, memorializing and educating about the Holocaust;
  • Public policy, national and transnational Holocaust memory and institutions (e.g., Holocaust Memorial Days, Holocaust-related Commissions, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance);
  • Liberation in history and memory,
  • Holocaust and/or genocide and the law;
  • Geographies/topography of the Holocaust and/or genocide, dark and Holocaust tourism;
  • Challenges and developments in 21st century museological representations of the Holocaust,
  • Contemporary representations of Holocaust and genocide, e.g., literature, film and television, music, fine and performing arts;
  • Gendered memories and representations of the Holocaust and genocide,
  • New technologies and social media in teaching, representing and memorializing the Holocaust;
  • New and emerging pedagogical practices in teaching about the Holocaust,
  • Teaching about the Holocaust in subject areas other than History,
  • Teaching about the Holocaust in relation to Human Rights, other genocides and Communist totalitarian regimes;
  • The influence of popular culture and technology on Holocaust education,
  • Teaching about the Holocaust and/or genocide at sites of memory.

In addition, proposals from those pursuing original research in any aspect of Holocaust studies are welcome.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

  • Dr Rochelle G. Saidel, Giving Women Their Place in Holocaust History. Dr Saidel is Executive Director, Remember the Women Institute, New York and Senior Researcher, Centre for the Study of Women and Society, University of São Paulo, Brazil; her recent publications include Mielec, Poland: The Shtetl That Became a Nazi Concentration Camp (2012); The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück (2004) and, co-edited with Sonja Hedgepeth, Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust (2012).
  • Dr Caroline Sturdy-Colls, What Lies Beneath? Forensic Archaeological Approaches to Treblinka Extermination and Labour Camps. Dr Sturdy-Colls is Associate Professor of Forensic Archaeology and genocide Investigation, Staffordshire University. She is also the Research Lead of the Centre of Archaeology at Staffordshire University. Her work focuses specifically on the investigation of Holocaust sites using forensic and archaeological techniques. She is the author of two major monographs: Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions and Forensic Approaches: The Buried Remains, and has published a number of papers regarding her work in Poland, Serbia and the Channel Islands.
  • The State of Holocaust Education: Challenges and Opportunities 70 Years On, a roundtable discussion with Dr Rachel Century (Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Fellow of the Imperial War Museum in Holocaust Education); Rachel Donnelly (Imperial War Museum); Dr Sarah Hall (University of Birmingham); Alex Maws (Holocaust Educational Trust) and Dr Andy Pearce (University of London).

Submission of abstracts for proposed papers:

BAHS invites abstracts for papers of 20 minutes length (to be followed by 10 minutes of questions). Please send an .rtf or word file of no more than 250 words plus a 100-word bio and contact details to i.l.wollaston@bham.ac.uk.

Presentations of current postgraduate research:

BAHS welcomes proposals for short presentations of 15 minutes from current PhD students at British universities introducing their research. The presentations will be followed by discussion. Proposals can be related to, or independent of, the conference theme and is open to those conducting PhD research in all fields and disciplines relating to the study of the Holocaust. Sole criterion for sending a proposal is registration as a PhD student at a university in the UK.

Please send an .rtf or word file with an abstract of no more than 250 words plus a 100-word bio, the name and department of your supervisor, and your contact details to i.l.wollaston@bham.ac.uk.

Bursaries:

There will be an opportunity to apply for financial assistance with fees and accommodation for teachers, postgraduate students and early career researchers who contribute a paper. Please submit a cover letter requesting financial assistance and explaining how attendance at the conference will benefit your teaching and/or research, with your abstract submission.

Location:

Centre for Professional Development, University of Birmingham (daytime sessions).

Registration:

The registration fee for the conference is £75 and includes attendance at all sessions, daily refreshments and lunch both days. A conference dinner on 21 July 2015 will cost £25. A daily registration rate of £38 (including lunch) is available for those able only to attend one day of the conference. Registration will be online and will open in early May 2015. If you wish to be notified when registration opens please contact i.l.wollaston@bham.ac.uk.

Accommodation:

Bread and breakfast accommodation in single en suite rooms is available on the university campus and can be booked online. 30 rooms are reserved in the University’s guest house at £45/night (to be allocated on a first come first served basis). Student hall accommodation is available @ £38/night plus VAT. If delegates prefer to make their own arrangements, there are hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation near the University campus.

Important dates:

  • Registration for speakers, and for accommodation on the university campus, is mandatory by 5 June 2015.
  • Conference: 21-22 July 2015

For further information: