Dr. Ashley Valanzola

Graduating with a History degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2010, Ashley Valanzola spent six years as a Naval Officer before pursuing an academic career. She received her M.A. in Diplomacy from Norwich University in 2013 and her Ph.D. in History from George Washington University in 2021. From 2021-2026, Valanzola was Assistant Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University. In Fall 2026, she is transitioning to a new position at Clark University as Assistant Professor of History and holder of the David. P. Angel Endowed Professorship in Holocaust Pedagogy and Antisemitism Studies. Valanzola’s scholarship focuses on Modern France, the Holocaust and Holocaust memory, women’s and gender history, and museums. Her first book, When She Remembered: Seven Women Who Transformed French Holocaust Memory (When She Remembered), 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 manuscript, Afterlife of the Sacred: Holocaust Museums and American Jewish Identity, is being co-authored with Jonathan Zisook and is under contract with Purdue University Press. Going forward, Valanzola’s research examines the longer history of the Maison d’Izieu, a Jewish children’s home during World War II that has been subsequently transformed into a Museum, Memorial, and Archive. Valanzola’s article-length publications have been featured in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Jewish Social Studies, and the Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies. She has received grants from the French Embassy in the United States and the Cosmos Club Foundation.