Who We Are

Marie-Louise co-directs Contested Histories. She previously worked at the Salzburg Global Seminar where she held diverse positions including director of the Holocaust Education & Genocide Prevention program, director of alumni affairs and administrative director and director of development of the IHJR.

Steven Stegers is the Executive Director of EuroClio – European Association of History Educators. At EuroClio, he has developed international projects to enhance history and citizenship education since 2006. He coordinated the development of the award winning Historiana platform.

Katria is interested in the intersection of identity and security in the post-Soviet space and the prevention of conflict over issues related to historical memory. She has worked on issues related to security, good governance, and human rights at ARTICLE 19, the OSCE, and the Ukrainian Parliament.

Jadé holds a B.A(Hons) in International Justice from Leiden University College the Hague and is a graduate of the faculty of law of the University of Amsterdam with an LLM in International and Transnational Criminal Law. Her main fields of interest are critical legal theory, post-colonial theory, transitional justice and the African Union.

Paula holds a BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology and an Erasmus Mundus MA in European Studies. She is currently doing her PhD on the intergenerational transmission of memories in Spain at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Some of her previous research interests are dissonant heritage and the narration of memories.

Alicia Rijlaarsdam initially joined EuroClio and the IHJR as a trainee in November 2020. As of June 2021 she continues working as a professional volunteer for Contested Histories as a supervisor and research associate. Alicia holds a MSc in Development Studies from the University of Lund.

Anna Ivanova is a professional volunteer working at Contested Histories since September 2020. She is responsible for social media and researcher supervision. She holds a BA in Public Administration and is interested in peacekeeping, nation and identity building in the post-Soviet space.

Grace has been involved with CHI since April 2019. In autumn 2021 she will begin a PhD at the Centre for Research on Race and Education, University of Birmingham. Her research focusses on racialised identity constructions in school history textbooks and curricula.

Lorraine Besnier was heavily involved with the project from September 2019 until December 2020. As project manager, she was involved in different tasks such as supervision of research interns, the writing and reviewing of cases, fundraising and event coordination.

Maddy is interested in the intersections of geography, creativity, and identity, focusing on urban activism, artistic intervention, and contested borders and place names. She holds a BA in Geography & Environmental Studies from UCLA and is currently pursuing an MPhil in Nature, Society, & Environmental Governance at Oxford.

Adriana Fuertes works on Outreach and Project management; at Contested Histories she especially helps with Spanish cases. Adriana holds a BA in International Relations, and she is currently doing her second BA in Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Alicante.

Cameron Scheijde is a researcher specialising in Southern African history and politics. He holds a BSc. in Politics and International Relations from the University of Bristol and an MSc. in African Studies from the University of Oxford, working on contested histories and the impact of historical legacies today in Europe and South Africa.

Elliot Davis is really passionate about programming, having spent 5 years doing it. If he has an idea or sees something online and thinks “I wonder how they did that”, he will sit down and code it out. Aside from being a great developer, Elliot is a Disney lover and baker.

Miranda Richman is a volunteer Research Associate and former IHJR summer intern. She received her B.A. in Government and East Asian Studies from Harvard University and currently works in education. This fall, she will attend Oxford University as an MPhil candidate in International Relations.