Dr Emily Stiles

Biography

As a Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Winchester I have a range of teaching interests, focussing (mainly) on Britain and Europe from the Enlightenment to the present day. I specialise in history and memory of the Holocaust, Jewish history, and cultural memories of war, conflict and forced migration. My research explores these areas largely through the lens of heritage, memorialisation and commemoration, with my first book, Holocaust Memory and National Museums in Britain, due for publication in 2021.

In 2015-16 I co-wrote the concept paper for the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, which detailed British links to the Holocaust. My contribution provided a narrative framework for the Learning Centre, emphasising the theme of Britain and the Holocaust.

After undertaking a degree in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Surrey, Roehampton, I worked in media industries (BBC and GCap Media) before returning to academia to further develop my passion for history. After completing an MA in History at the University of Southampton, I moved to the University of Winchester to gain a PhD exploring narrative, object and testimony within the Imperial War Museum Holocaust Exhibition. This formed the foundation of my book, developed further through work with the UK Holocaust Memorial. My latest research looks at expressions of power within museum narratives of forced migration.

Areas of expertise

• History and memory of the Holocaust
• Modern Jewish history
• Cultural memories of war, conflict and forced migration
• Museum culture and representation

Publications

Books

Holocaust Memory and National Museums in Britain (Palgrave Macmillan ‘Holocaust and its Contexts’ series, 2021).

Journal articles

In preparation. ‘Narratives of Hope, Vulnerability and Contribution: Britain’s ‘Myth of Hospitality’ and the Conceptualisation of Forced Migrants in Museums of the Holocaust and Migration’.

Conference presentations

Narratives of Hope, Vulnerability and Contribution: Britain’s ‘Myth of Hospitality’ and the Conceptualisation of Forced Migrants in Museums of the Holocaust and Migration. Narratives of the Holocaust, BAHS conference, University of Roehampton. 2019.

’You have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life [] but we need to protect our borders’: Mobilising Holocaust Memory in Twenty-First Century Britain. Lessons and Legacies Conference on the Holocaust XV, Washington University in St. Louis, USA. 2018.

"Holocaust Testimonies in Education and Memory: Beyond the Survivor". Holocaust Testimonies IV, Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel. 2016.

"'... the dissection table would be because of its concreteness, a very suitable exhibit': The Holocaust object as palimpsest." Another Time, Another Place? Challenges in commemorating, teaching and researching the Holocaust 70 years on, BAHS conference, University of Birmingham. 2015.

"Narrative, Object, Witness: The Holocaust as told by the Imperial War Museum Holocaust Exhibition." Britain and the Holocaust, BAHS conference, University of Edinburgh. 2014.

"'... they slept naked, in spite of the bitter cold, in cots filled with straw': The place of the Holocaust in a former 'lunatic' asylum." The Future of Holocaust Studies, University of Southampton/University of Winchester. 2013.

"'...the evil they helped to defeat': Exhibiting the Holocaust in Britain's national museum of modern conflict." The Second International Graduate Students' Conference for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA. 2012.

"The Construction of Memory in a Local Context: An analysis of Holocaust museums and their meanings." Jewishness in Contemporary Culture, Institute of SWPS, Warsaw. 2010.

"Auschwitz in the Museum: Constructions of Holocaust memory in Poland." Researching the Holocaust: A Jewish Identities Colloquium, University of Winchester. 2010.