Call for Applications
Sunday, July 26– Thursday, July 31, 2026
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum invites applications for the 2026 Joint Workshop: Towards an Integrated History of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe – New Research and Perspectives. The workshop is organized in cooperation with the Greenberg Chair in Holocaust Studies at NYU and The Center for Research on the Holocaust in Poland, The International Institute for Holocaust Research, Yad Vashem, and is co-convened by Avinoam Patt (NYU) and Havi Dreifuss (Tel Aviv University). The program is scheduled for July 26–July 31, 2026, and will take place at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and NYU Washington, DC.
The deadline for receipt of applications is January 14, 2026. Applications must be submitted in English via our online application.
Workshop Overview
The workshop will focus on early-career scholars, including advanced PhD students and post-docs, conducting new research on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, aiming to facilitate dialogue and connections between junior research communities in Israel, Europe, and the United States. In 1997, Saul Friedländer called for the writing of an integrated history of the Holocaust that would incorporate "the policies of the perpetrators, the attitudes of surrounding society, and the world of the victims." Over the past 25 years, a new generation of Holocaust scholarship has taken up this call, utilizing archival source material from newly available collections in Eastern Europe, together with materials created by the victims of persecution, sources that reflect the diverse roles of local societies, and new approaches to incorporating many forms of testimony. This research effort has led to new insights and a more nuanced understanding of the unfolding of events on the local level. At the same time, it challenges definitions, embraces new methodologies, and poses new questions about the entanglement of all parts of societies in the Holocaust.
This interactive workshop seeks to include new scholarship on these aspects of the Holocaust, with a focus on the years 1939–1946 in Eastern Europe. Special attention will be given to interdisciplinary research, encouraging participation from scholars across history, literature, anthropology, sociology, political science, and related fields. We also welcome original uses of documentation, including written, visual, and material culture, as well as digital methodologies. Workshop sessions will address broader issues related to developments in Holocaust historiography, along with focused discussion on specific research topics presented by participants.
We encourage presenters to use the workshop not only as an opportunity to share their findings, but also to engage in critical reflection on the methodological, theoretical, and practical questions their research raises. Together, we hope to examine how various types of sources are interpreted, what challenges they or their analysis present, and how scholars have sought to address these issues. To facilitate meaningful discussion, participants will be asked to circulate brief materials in advance. The aim is to foster thoughtful and collaborative conversations from which all participants can benefit.
In addition to traditional historical approaches, the workshop welcomes work that draws on new analytical lenses, such as gender, emotions, materiality, memory politics, and the complex intersections of entangled histories.
Daily sessions will consist of presentations and roundtable discussions led by participants, co-conveners and Museum staff, as well as research in the Museum’s collections. The workshop aims to cultivate a sustainable scholarly network that supports collaboration, mentorship, and the exchange of ideas across national and disciplinary boundaries by bringing together a new generation of scholars. The entire program will be conducted in English.
This workshop is made possible with support from the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Fund.
Application Details
The Mandel Center will reimburse the costs of round-trip economy-class air tickets to/from the Washington, D.C. metro area, up to a maximum reimbursable amount calculated by home institution location, which will be distributed within 6–8 weeks of the workshop’s conclusion. The Mandel Center will also provide accommodation for the duration of the workshop. Participants are required to attend the full duration of the workshop and to circulate a draft paper in advance of the program.
The deadline for receipt of applications is January 14, 2026. Selected participants will be notified by March 13, 2026. Applications must include:
A short biography (max. 150 words)
A curriculum vitae, including a list of publications, and/or ongoing research projects
An abstract of no more than 500 words outlining the research project to be presented and discussed during the workshop.
Applications must be submitted in English via our online application.
Questions should be directed to iaprograms@ushmm.org.