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An example of research created by our Chemical Engineering Cohort:

“An Unlikely Refuge: The Shanghai Jewish Ghetto During the Holocaust”
Jennifer Wachtel
Assistant Professor Meredith Oyen

This research will focus on the role of a one square mile area in the Hongkou District of Shanghai known as the Shanghai Ghetto (or formerly, the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees) within the larger context of Holocaust history. Between 1933 and 1941, when most Western nations closed their doors to European refugees, over twenty thousand German, Austrian, and Polish Jews survived the Holocaust by escaping to Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Over the last five years, scholarly and popular interest in Shanghai as an unlikely but welcome refuge for Jews in the aftermath of Kristallnacht and the Anschluss has surged. I intend to examine the experience of survivors in Shanghai as well as the Shanghai Ghetto’s significance in Holocaust history by studying oral histories, written testimony, and scholarly publications in both German and English.

An informal portrait of Meredith Power on a (walking) bridge, in the woods
Read Meredith’s research here!

Meet a current research student:

Meet our research alumnae:

Benefits for History students:

  • Work with a faculty member
  • Experience hands-on research
  • Reinforce classroom learning
  • Prepare for work or graduate school
  • Travel to national conferences
  • Receive grant funding
  • Publish independent research
    • Surrounded by History: The Gettysburg Cyclorama.
      David Munford. UMBC Review vol.10.
    • The Lion at Armageddon: Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 Third-party Run and Its Effect on the 1916 Election.
      Kenneth Sabel. UMBC Review vol.10.

So, what are you doing next summer?

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For more information, check out this department’s website: History

04/18/2024