Francesca Freeman

Francesca Freeman (peace studies and history) is a PhD student in Peace Studies and History with the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame. She holds an MA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from the University of Amsterdam and a BA in Anthropology and Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies from the University of Chicago. Her Master’s thesis, which was awarded the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Humanities Thesis Prize, analyzed different conceptualizations of rescuing during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda.

Previously, Francesca worked at MIT supporting randomized evaluations of social interventions to address poverty, and at the Social Science Research Council, supporting a fellowship for African Ph.D. students studying peace and security. Francesca also has extensive experience supporting low-income international students, particularly students from conflict zones including Syria and Palestine, applying to college.

Engaging with history, peace studies, and gender studies, Francesca studies the dynamics of American Jewish Zionism following the founding of Israel. In particular, her research explores identity formation among American Jewish Zionists during the 1950s. This research questions American Jewish Zionist productions of and interactions with gender, race, and class as they explored their shifting relationships with both the legacies of the Holocaust and the newly founded state.

Francesca is a Notre Dame Presidential Fellow.