Dr. Rachel Pistol

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Rachel Pistol is a digital historian specializing in the history of World War internment in the UK and the USA. She is the author of 'Internment in World War: A Comparative Study of Great Britain and the USA,' which compares the histories of internment. Her research focuses on the memory of internment, particularly how these histories have been used politically in both the UK and the USA. Pistol is interested in employing quantitative digital methods in her research and has lectured on History, Business Information Systems, and Quantitative Methods. She is currently the Director of the UK Holocaust Research Infrastructure, collaborating with the Wiener Holocaust Library and the National Archives in Kew to enhance access to materials related to Holocaust refugee studies. Pistol also works on making archives from World Jewish Relief accessible and is involved in mapping information about refugees and internment camps during World War II. She joined the Department of History and the Parkes Institute at the University of Southampton in 2024 and has previously worked at King’s College London and held a postdoctoral position at the University of Exeter.

Research Interests

Experience

Senior Research Fellow

2024-01-01 — Present

University of Southampton • Southampton, England

Joined the Department of History and the Parkes Institute.

Historical Advisor

2022-01-01 — Present

World Jewish Relief •

Worked on making extensive archive of refugees accessible.

Lecturer

2016-01-01 — 2019-01-01

Kingston University •

Lectured in Business Information Systems and Quantitative Methods.

Postdoctoral Researcher

2019-01-01 — 2024-01-01

University of Exeter •

Worked as an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Holocaust and Genocide Studies.