Dr Itay Lotem

Dr Itay Lotem


I am a cultural historian of memory, race and social movements in Britain, France and Europe. I am currently a Senior lecturer in French Studies and have been at the University of Westminster since 2016. I joined the university after finishing my PhD at Queen Mary University of London. My first monograph has been published with Palgrave Macmillan under the title 'The Memory of Colonialism in Britain and France: The Sins of Silence' (2021) and has been shortlisted for the Memory Studies Association's First Book Award. 


My research examines the memory of colonialism in Britain and France. It explores the creation of memory cultures in both society and the ways different actors incited public debates about coming to terms with the history of colonial domination in the former metropoles. Some of my more specific interests include immigration politics, race and  connections between activism and memory, particularly anti-racism and far-right activism.


In brief

Research areas

contemporary European history, memory politics, colonial memory, social movements, intersectionality