Sarah Ernst
Biography
Sarah Ernst (they/them/theirs) is a third-year student advised by Wolf Gruner. Their research interests lie in exploring the experiences of queer persons during the Third Reich who had other marginalized identities, such as Jewish, Sinti/Roma, and disabled. They are also interested in the larger 20th-century queer history in Europe/the United States.
Sarah received their B.A. in History and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies in 2020 from Brandeis University. While there, they completed a Senior Honors Thesis under the supervision of Dr. Hannah Weiss Muller entitled, “You Mean Something Absolutely Vital to Me”: An Insight into the Lived Experiences of Female Companions to Hysterics in England in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.” This research looked at hysteria and the personal and social impacts of it for women in non-heteronormative relationships.
Education
- BA , Brandeis University
-
Summary Statement of Research Interests
I am interested in Europe in the twentieth-century, with a focus on the experiences of queer persons in the Third Reich. I am looking to explore the lives of those with multiple marginalized identities, such as queer Jewish, queer Sinti/Roma, and queer disabled persons, as well as the memory of queer experiences.
I am also interested in the history of “madness” and the ways in which non-heteronormative persons were treated and memorialized in this history.
Research Specialties
Modern Europe; Gender and Sexuality; Holocaust and Genocide Studies
-
Conference Presentations
- “”‘No Kiss’”: Hysteria and Sex Panic in the Diaries of Anne Lister (1791-1840) SEX pan!cs”
- “Queer Belonging and Annette Eick German Studies Association”
-
- McVicar Scholarship Fund, 05/2023-08/2023
- USC Ralph and Jean Hovel Memorial Summer Travel Award, 05/2023-08/2023
- German Historical Institute Thyssen Fellowship, 05/2022-08/2022
- USC Ralph and Jean Hovel Memorial Summer Travel Award, 05/2022-08/2022
- Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Fellow, 06/2022-07/2022