Welcome to my website!
I explore how societies live with the traumatic memories of 20th-century political violence, from the Holocaust to Soviet deportations.
By analyzing personal testimonies, films, and public debates, I investigate how these difficult pasts continue to shape our present-day identities and politics in Central and Eastern Europe.
My goal is to illuminate the complex processes of cultural memory, showing how our engagement with history is essential for understanding the contemporary world.
Research
I am currently a Professor at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science and a Senior Researcher at the Lithuanian Institute of History.
My academic journey began with a B.A. from Vilnius University, followed by a diploma in Jewish Studies at Oxford University, before I completed my M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Toronto.
My research has been supported by recent international fellowships, including appointments at Yale University, the Vienna Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies, the Imre Kertesz Kolleg in Jena, and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris.
Projects
I seek to bridge the gap between academic research and public understanding, including as Project Leader for EUROPAST, a Horizon Europe-funded initiative (2022-2025) that strengthens public history across the continent.
In addition to leading major research projects, I contribute to the field as an expert evaluator for the Horizon Europe program and the national science councils of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and advisor to museums like the Lost Shtetl, historical films, and documentaries.
I am a co-editor of the CEU Press book series, Memory, Heritage and Public History in Central Europe.
