Dr David Tollerton

My research centres on how societies understand and memorialise events of suffering. Much of this has focused on responses to the Holocaust, though has more recently also incorporated research on emerging memorialisation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During 2023-24 I am President of the British and Irish Association for Holocaust Studies and I am currently co-editing a special issue of Holocaust Studies focused on the relationship between genocide and ecocide.

With regard to work on societal responses to COVID-19, my recent AHRC-funded project partnered with the Marie Curie charity and their ‘National Day of Reflection’ initiative. Looking at the wider picture of how memorialisation of the pandemic is beginning to develop in Britain, and drawing comparatively on historic precedents, the project considered the social, political, and religious elements of how we begin to develop new public rituals and memorial spaces amidst experiences of Covid-19. The project report is published here.

My most recent book is Holocaust Memory and Britain’s Religious-Secular Landscape, published with Routledge in 2020. It was based on a Leverhulme Trust fellowship held during 2019-2020 and is the first study to examine Holocaust remembrance and British religiosity/secularity in relation to one another. Its first half gives attention to the varied meanings of public Holocaust memory for Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and post-Christian communities. In its second half, focus turns to the ways in which state-supported Holocaust remembrance activities are intertwined with perceptions of sacredness. This incorporates the study of ritual memorialisation events, the creation of new sacred space, and the curation of pilgrimage to Holocaust sites. The monograph breaks new ground as an interdisciplinary treatment of Holocaust studies and religious studies, arguing that critical consideration of this interface is necessary for a better understanding of both contemporary British public life and for a sustainable culture of remembrance and national self-examination.

Alongside further research on emerging memorialisation of COVID-19, I am also planning future work on the Holocaust and comparison (i.e. the history of debates surrounding comparison between the Holocaust and other historical or contemporary events).

Research supervision:

I am currently supervising a range of projects on Holocaust memory and other areas.

Please do get in touch to discuss potential projects on Holocaust studies, memory studies, and societal responses to COVID-19. Have a look at the other profile tabs to see more detail concerning my current work. I am happy to discuss research proposals on any related area so do feel free to get in touch via d.c.tollerton@exeter.ac.uk