Holocaust Research Centre

Director: Professor Robert Eaglestone
Founding Director (1998-2008): Professor Peter Longerich

The Holocaust Research Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London is the leading academic centre of its kind in Europe. We are internationally recognised for our research, teaching, public advocacy and creative work.

The Research Centre’s mission is to promote research into the Holocaust, its origins and aftermath, and to examine the extent to which genocide, war and dictatorship can be understood as defining elements in the history of the twentieth century.  It is an international forum bringing together researchers working on different aspects of the Holocaust in a range of disciplines, including history, literary and language studies, film and media studies, philosophy and sociology.

Research

Our core staff, which includes internationally recognised scholars Peter Longerich, David Cesarani, Dan Stone, Colin Davis, Zoe Waxman and Robert Eaglestone, have published over 30 books in the last five years with major presses: three books have won international prizes.  In the same period, we have run over 25 national and international conferences and our staff are key collaborators for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Wiener Library and many others.

The Research Centre has a very active research culture, which features lectures from the leading figures in the field (recent speakers have included Robert Jan van Pelt, Ulrich Herbert, Reinhard Rürup, Dina Porat, David Cesarani, Saul Friedländer and Geoffrey Hartman), three one-day workshops on cutting edge research a year and regular conferences.

We welcome inquires from potential graduate students in any area of Holocaust and Genocide studies, including history, literary and cultural studies, philosophy, film and media studies, cultural studies and sociology.

Teaching

We run a globally unique interdisciplinary MA programme, have over 20 PhD students affiliated to the Centre and our staff. We ran a Doctoral Training Programme in Holocaust Studies and we support secondary level education on the Holocaust. MA In Holocaust studies

Public advocacy

Peter Longerich advises the German President on Holocaust matters and was an expert witness in the Irving trial; David Cesarani is trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and on the International Task Force for Intergovernmental Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research and the Imperial War Museum board.

Creative Work

One member of the Centre, Dr Barry Langford, wrote an award winning short film Torte Bluma (2005) and has another Holocaust related feature film in development.

Recent News

• Summer 2008: Holocaust Centre Awarded £54,000 from Vice Chancellors fund for a PhD Studentship
• 27th -29th January 2009, Berlin:  “Perpetrator Research in a Global Context”: a major international conference in Berlin in January 2009, with  the German government’s Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (Agency for political education), opened by Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Principal and Chair of Council are scheduled to attend.   All members of the Centre will be giving papers or chairing panels.
• 17th March 2009, Royal Holloway: Annual Lecture: Professor Sue Vice, False Testimonu