My name is Ellis Spicer and I am currently the Tenders, Contracts and Approvals Officer for apprenticeships at Global and Lifelong Learning at the University of Kent. I am also a part time Associate Lecturer working within Professional Practice postgraduate programmes teaching qualitative research methods.

My thesis looked at Holocaust survivors who settled in postwar Britain using an oral history methodology. It is still my main research interest, although I have expanded my interest to how qualitative research is designed and constructed. You would be surprised how many different fields (history, social sciences, sciences) that are using the same kind of qualitative research methods but using completely different frameworks to understand their work. So there is a lack of shared understanding and linguistic terminology to unite this work, meaning that scholars are not reading each other’s work that might have methodological overlap because its confined to their small field and the associated jargon.

I am really proud of the work in Holocaust Studies more generally and the work that is being done to keep testimony alive in a world where many survivors have unfortunately passed away or are too frail to speak. The commitment to remember such horrors and educate inspires me every day.

I am very proud that my book has recently been published with Palgrave Macmillan. It was a big rewrite but its essence is my PhD research and the stories of survivors I was able to capture. Holocaust Survivors in Postwar Britain: Community and Belonging | SpringerLink

Shortly after finishing my PhD, I took a job with my department within general administration as a temporary filler for my post thesis life. I then assembled a large body of niche knowledge about apprenticeships and an undiscovered talent for bid writing that has led me to my current role. Through networking with academic colleagues within apprenticeships and lifelong learning, I found my path to teaching postgraduates about qualitative research methods which allows me to use my PhD in a way I never envisaged. I felt like I often had to ‘figure out’ what kind of researcher I would be, and it is a privilege to guide others on their initial wanders down the path of research.

Definitely the opportunity for a placement that enabled me to take a small peripheral part of my research and translate it into a huge piece of public engagement work!

Or being able to work on 3 articles that were published during my PhD which was an honour and a privilege.

‘I Searched for Words’: Holocaust Survivor Poetry in Postwar Association Journals     

‘One sorrow or another’: narratives of hierarchical survivorship and suffering in Holocaust survivor associations

Rabbi, don’t you think she looks like one of us?’

As part of my research, I found that there was a large house (Holmehurst) close to where I grew up in Epping Forest that acted as a hostel for Holocaust survivors in 1945-7. I was able to approach Epping Forest District Museum to put on a large exhibition that ran from May-September 2021 on the house and the experience of the survivors who stayed there. We were able to schedule a large programme of local community events and engagement ranging from historical talks to challah baking workshops. The exhibition closed with a large event at Holmehurst itself bringing together survivors, their families and the local community for a large celebration of survivors’ lives since the war ended and their rich postwar lives in Britain – see the YouTube video of the event here The Loughton Boys (youtube.com)

Hopefully a couple of methodological articles and my first foray into supervising postgraduate student dissertations which I am really excited about. I am also hoping to promote my book and have it be well-received and reviewed, which is every author’s dream.

Follow the little idiosyncratic paths your PhD takes you down, pull at every thread. Without me occasionally straying from a strict thesis path I never would have had the opportunity to curate an exhibition and find so many brilliant strands to my research. And also to enjoy it, it is rare to have the opportunity to pursue your research passions wherever they may lead!