Dark Tourism Sites related to the Holocaust, the Nazi Past and World War II: Visitation and Practice

Dark tourism
Tuesday, 13 December, 2016

Conference at Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

Wednesday, 28 June – Saturday, 1 July 2017

The aim of this interdisciplinary conference, which is especially aimed at tourism researchers, historians and memorial site employees, is to reflect on experiences with tourist visitors, their expectations and the resulting conclusions and implications for the work of memorial sites, museums and documentation centres in international and comparative perspective. The practice and function of organised and individual travel and tourism agencies will also be taken into consideration. We will debate questions, such as:

  • What are the problems and challenges connected with “dark tourism” as a factor in popular encounters with and understanding of the history of the Holocaust? What role does tourism play in expanding Holocaust education?
  • If tourism is a source of environmental degradation of the physical structure and landscape, how can that be balanced with the educational and experiential value of visitorship?
  • How can “dark tourism” be utilised to reveal historical interconnections in their respective geographical and historical setting, for instance between the German occupation, local societies and mass murder in Central Eastern Europe?

For more information, read the Call for Papers

Image, thanks to Jewish Heritage Europe