Jewish StudiesProgram

Biography:

Kristin’s passion lies in helping the world to better understand the meaning of Self and Identity. They are a recent graduate of Ball State University with dual Master of Artdegrees in non-integrated sociology and history programs. They are an incoming PhD student in sociology, with a doctoral minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Their M.A. thesis entitled "Telling their Stories and Saying their Names: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Historical Interpreters Bringing the Past to Life," seeks to illuminate the role character/interpreter performance plays in shaping and changing one’s identity and understanding of self. Though this may seem far removed from their interest in studying the Holocaust, their primary area lies in the combination of sociology and history. By examining the Holocaust through the lens of sociological social psychology we can better understand the internal impact that the external circumstances of genocide had on individuals. They are also interested in how contemporary events change the collective memorization of the Holocaust.