Ludivine Broch

Ludivine Broch is a Professor of History at the University of Westminster's School of Humanities, specializing in twentieth-century French history with particular focus on societal and cultural aspects of World War II France. Born in France and raised in both Pittsburgh and Paris, she completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2010. Before joining Westminster in 2014, she taught at Birkbeck and the University of Bristol and held prestigious fellowships at the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism and the European University Institute in Florence. At Westminster, she coordinates the Humanities Programme for Study Abroad and Summer Schools and is deeply involved in outreach initiatives connecting academic research with public understanding.

Her educational background includes:

• DPhil in History from the University of Oxford (2010), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Previous academic training in France and the United States

Professor Broch specializes in Vichy France, the history and memory of the world wars, modern France, the Holocaust and genocide, the history of material culture, and the history of emotions and sensory history. Her research uniquely examines how ordinary people navigated life under occupation through their thoughts, feelings, and interactions with material objects. She challenges conventional narratives about French resistance and collaboration, offering nuanced perspectives on complex moral choices made during the Holocaust while recovering marginalized voices, particularly those of colonial subjects in the French resistance.

Her scholarly trajectory demonstrates consistent innovation in historical methodology, particularly through material culture approaches that reveal emotional landscapes and social dynamics during wartime. Broch's work bridges French historical experiences with broader global contexts, most notably in her groundbreaking research on the French Gratitude Train to America, which examines how 52,000 personal objects gifted from French citizens to Americans in 1949 reveal post-war emotional and diplomatic connections.

Professor Broch's significant scholarly recognition includes:

• Fellowship in the Royal Historical Society
• Early Career Research Fellowship at the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
• Prestigious Max Weber Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence
• Associate Fellowship at the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
• Major research funding from AHRC, British Academy-Leverhulme, SSFH-ASMCF, and Westminster-Smithsonian Partnership

As an educator, Professor Broch supervises multiple doctoral candidates working on diverse historical topics spanning British aviation history, Sephardi Jewish heritage, and colonial resistance movements. Her grant portfolio demonstrates sustained institutional support for innovative research projects examining transnational connections and material culture approaches to history. She actively collaborates with major cultural institutions including the Imperial War Museum (for Holocaust Galleries renovation), Arizona State Museum (Merci Train exhibit), and Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (upcoming 2027-28 exhibit on transatlantic gratitude).

Professor Broch maintains active leadership roles in academic communities as co-convenor of the Modern French History seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, co-founder of the French History Network, Conference Officer of the Society for the Study of French History, and editorial board member for Contemporary European History and other significant publications. Her current projects include public engagement initiatives with the Smithsonian and ongoing research challenging established historical narratives about WWII France.