War, Conflict, and Memory | University of Essex

We focus on war and other instances of historical conflict and trauma, exploring how they affect not just combatants but society, culture and politics more widely.

We explore how a range of factors (age, gender, class, sexuality) shapes involvement in war and conflict, and the impact of war, conflict and trauma on people, communities and states in a variety of different historical settings. We are also interested in how people involved in or affected by war and conflict make sense of their experiences, in letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews; in how individuals, communities and states ‘remember’ and commemorate wars and traumatic experiences in texts, monuments, and events; and in how and why these commemorative practices can be politicised and mobilised by subsequent generations for various different purposes.

Research strands

There are five major strands to our research within this cluster.

Research into early modern religious persecution and its commemoration, with particular focus on martyrdom in early modern England.
Research on British people’s experiences and memories of the two World Wars, with particular emphasis on emotional responses to grief and bereavement; and the gendering of wartime experience and memory.
Research into memories of the Great Famine in China and more broadly into state power in 20th-century China, especially through the prism of medical history and the interplay between public health campaigns and local healing practices.
Experiences of war and mass killing in 19th and 20th-century Russia and the Soviet Union and in Germany during the Second World War.
The social and cultural history of Weimar and Nazi Germany, with an emphasis on crime and policing and on the German Revolution of 1918-1919.

Our department also maintains a long-standing commitment to remembering the Holocaust. Related activities include participating in the University's Holocaust Memorial Week, organising the school's outreach project, the Dora Love Prize with local East Anglian schools, and producing the journal The Holocaust in History and Memory.

Research supervision

Our expert staff are happy to supervise postgraduate research in all of these areas. Please contact them directly for more information about supervision, or explore our research degrees and what to expect from a degree in the Department of History. You can also find out how to apply for postgraduate research at Essex, or use research finder if you are interested in searching for further research opportunities at Essex.

Research projects

Between State and Community: Public Health Campaigns and Local Healing Practice in socialist Asia

This research project was funded by the European Union between 2014 and 2018, and compared two important and hitherto under-researched Chinese health-care campaigns, which were undertaken under Mao Zedong.

Gateways to the First World War

Gateways to the First World War was a centre for public engagement with the Great War Centenary, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Reflections on the Centenary: Learning and Legacies for the future

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), over the course of three years (2017 – 2020), this project sets out to both evaluate the extent to which the range of commemorative activities undertaken since 2014 has engaged with, challenged, or changed the cultural memory of the war.

War Memoryscapes in Asia Partnership (WARMAP)

The War Memoryscapes in Asia Partnership, led by the University of Essex and funded by the UK’s Leverhulme Trust, brings together scholars from Europe, Asia and Australia to help trace the trends and developments of World War Two remembrance that is emerging across Asia.

Cluster Lead

Dr Felix Schnell

Senior Lecturer

Department of History, University of Essex

Our members

Dr Thomas Freeman

Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies

Research interests: Medieval and Early Modern Martyrdom; Perceptions of the Middle Ages in the Early Modern Period; Early Modern Historical Writing; Demonic Possession and Exorcism; Early Modern Colchester; Film and History; English Reformation;

Dr Felix Schnell

Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies

Research interests: Russian and Soviet History in the late 19th and 20th Century; History of Ukraine; War, Violence, and Revolution in 19th and 20th Century Europe

Dr Xun Zhou

Reader, School of Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies

Research interests: Race and Ethnicity in East Asia; Social History of Drugs; Visual History, Southeast and East Asia; Social and Political History of Modern China; History of Public Health and Medicine in 20th century China; Food and Foodways; Global Environmental History; History of Religion in Modern East Asia; Global Public Health

History degrees

Are you looking to study a history degree at undergraduate, masters or PhD level? In the Department of History, we have a variety of courses to choose from which cover a broad range of subjects. These include; modern history, art history, criminology, economics, literature, human rights, international relations, politics, film, and culture and society.

A degree in history is essential in helping to shape our future. Explore our courses, or visit our subject area to find out more about the degrees and modules that Essex has to offer.

Explore careers in history