JAMES BULGIN

James Bulgin is a TV presenter and historian and was the “Head Of Content” for the new Holocaust galleries at the Imperial War Museum in London. In this role, it was his responsibility to determine the creative vision and approach for the galleries, and to steer the historical interpretation in consultation with leading academics and experts. Whilst working on the Galleries. James started doing more media based work, appearing as an expert on Rise of the Nazis (BBC) and Secrets of the Imperial War Museum (C5) as well as presenting How the Holocaust Began (BBC).

His PhD title is ‘The Holocaust and the Apocalyptic Cultural Imagination of the Cold War’.  (Supervisor Professor Robert Eaglestone).

MA Holocaust Studies (distinction)

Thesis title: ‘Item condition: Used’ Interpreting the response to the Holocaust being offered for sale on eBay.

He is currently the Head of Public History at the Imperial War Museum

Head of Content, Holocaust Galleries – Imperial War Museum (2016-2022)

James worked with leading academics, internationally renowned designers, AV producers and sound engineers to develop the interpretive approach for the new galleries and led a team of curators to create a dynamic, object-based narrative that reflects the substantial evolution in Holocaust historiography across the past 20 years. His involvement on the project has involved working with institutions across the world, including USHMM, Yad Vashem in Israel and the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich. He has also acted as the public face of the project in the media, appearing on all major broadcast channels and is the author of the book, The Holocaust, which supports the historical content in the Galleries.

Brand Licensing Manager – Imperial War Museum (2014-2016)

He worked within the publishing team to manage the use of the museum’s brand by commercial partners including the Royal Mint and the Royal Mail. The role necessitated an understanding of the museum’s collections and the ways in which these could be used by third parties to align with the museum’s broader remit and strategy.

Additional

Seminar Leader, Royal Holloway College (2015)

He taught a critical theory module on the English BA at Royal Holloway as a casual member of staff.

Conferences

James has spoken at conferences in the UK, Germany, Bosnia and Israel, and delivered the 2022 David Cesarani Memorial Lecture.

Further publications

He also wrote the foreword to “A Wounded Landscape” by Marc Wilson and has been interviewed for a chapter in a forthcoming book by Dr Bryce Lease.