Nisrine Rahal

Nisrine Rahal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Wake Forest University, specializing in Modern German and European history. Her research investigates civil society and democracy through the lenses of education history, revolutions, protest movements, and emotions. Her current book project analyzes the 19th-century German kindergarten movement as a site for alternative political expression.

Education: Ph.D. in Social Policy and Sociology from the University of Toronto (2022).

Research Focus: Explores how marginalized groups utilized kindergartens as spaces to articulate new forms of political power and protest against state and religious authorities. Her research integrates investigations of emotional mobilization (hope and love) and examines the reconstruction of Christian love ideals in post-Holocaust West Germany. Teaching interests encompass Modern Europe, children's history, emotions history, education, revolution, and protest.