Beatrice Leeming is a PhD student at the University of Cambridge in History. She obtained an MPhil in Modern European History, also from Cambridge. Her doctoral research considers the dialogue between former concentration camps and their visitors since the 1990s, primarily the phenomenon of Holocaust Tourism and its contribution to the ongoing imperative of Holocaust remembrance. She considers the presentation of space and memory in topographical, digits and curatorial dimension. The research takes a transnational, comparative approach to ask if, and how, the ‘voice of the visitor’ alters the way sites navigate changes to their functions in anticipation of and beyond the twenty-first century. Her material includes visitors’ books, memorial ‘offerings’, as well as tourist literature. Working in anticipation of a crux in temporal as much as spatial witnessing, this project is an attempt to understand how sites have and will continue to maintain their significance in dialogue with the diverse audiences they work with.
Whilst at the centre, she will work closely with the proximate historic sites, such as Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. She will also consult the archives of the IfZ itself, in particular its efforts to work with its public in research conferences and seminars.