Researching the memories of Holocaust survivors

Psychology faculty member Brian Schiff, Ph.D., is guiding a group of Saint Martin’s undergraduate students through a research project that compares videotaped testimonies of Holocaust survivors taken in the 1970s with their perceptions in the 1990s. The students are studying how survivors view life events over time and depending on the social climate when the testimony was recorded

Their research uses a technique developed by Schiff called “narrative mapping” that helps researchers analyze stories over time. The information gathered by Saint Martin’s students will be archived and coded thematically to help other researchers understand the post-traumatic effects of prolonged suffering and oppression.

“The goal isn’t only to do research, the goal is an investment in the students,” Schiff says. “This is really a full educational experience, the type that is practical but also puts them in touch with ideas.”

Student Leah Bedker, a past researcher, said, “I’m really glad I worked on the project because it taught me an immense amount about how to conduct research projects, do analysis of survivors’ life stories and do your own empirical analysis. I see it as my stepping stone into the research project I plan to launch on the South African Apartheid.”