Ashley Valanzola is a historian of Holocaust Studies and modern France, whose research focuses on memory, women’s and gender history, and museums. She joined the Strassler Center in 2026 holding the David P. Angel Endowed Professorship in Holocaust Pedagogy and Antisemitism Studies.

Her book, When She Remembered: Seven Women who Transformed French Holocaust Memory, was released by Indiana University Press in June 2026. This book showcases an intertwined group of seven influential women, from well-known figures such as Simone Veil to memory activist Sabine Zlatin, who shaped the production of Holocaust memory in France from 1945 to the present. Her second book project, Afterlife of the Sacred: Holocaust Museums and American Jewish Identity, is under contract with Purdue University Press. This book is co-authored by sociologist Jonathan Zisook (University of Pittsburgh). Afterlife of the Sacred considers the transnational impact of Holocaust memory through a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary study of sacred objects in regional Holocaust museums.

In addition to these book-length projects, Valanzola has published articles in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Jewish Social Studies, and the Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies, with a forthcoming co-authored article in Southern Jewish History scheduled for publication in Fall 2026. Prior to coming to the Strassler Center, Valanzola earned fellowships for her research from the French Embassy in the United States and the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Valanzola has received teaching awards from George Washington University and Middle Tennessee State University.