Sinnott’s dissertation examines neighborhood and pogrom violence in Nazi (and Soviet) occupied Poland. The chief objective of her research is to create a fluid snapshot of a local sociocultural reality in which the murder of Polish Jewry took place. This project will consider three overarching categories of analysis to develop a narrative of the perpetration of mass violence: the identification of actors and methods of aggression, ethnic and/or national socialization and shifting moralities, and the economic incentives for committing intra-communal violence. This microhistory will provide a framework in which to examine the broader themes of interethnic relations in Poland, Polish antisemitism, and the national identity and culture that allowed for attitudes of indifference and violence in the face of Jewish suffering; demonstrating the ways in which anti-Jewish, neighborhood aggression fit into the totality of occupational violence.
Advisor: Thomas Kühne
Education:
- B.A., Anthropology, University of California, Irvine, 2015
- M.A., European and Mediterranean Studies, NYU, 2018
Publications:
Fellowships:
- Sidney and Rosalie Rose Fellowship 2019-2021
- Conny Kristel Fellowship, European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, 2022-2023
- American Councils Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Program, 2022-2023
