John C. Swanson teaches UHON 3510–Topics in Historical Understanding: The Holocaust. His research specialites are modern Central and Eastern European history, nationalism
and ethnic identity, minorities, Holocaust studies, and historical representation
on film. Dr. Swanson's current research explores forms of Germanness (of being German)
for the German minority in twentieth-century Hungary. He has also begun a project
that examines how assimilated Hungarian Jews integrated into Communist Hungary after
the Holocaust.
In addition to his work as a historian, Professor Swanson is an accomplished documentary
filmmaker. His film About a Village, which explores questions of lost childhood, Heimat, and nostalgia for current and
former members of the Hungarian village of Máriakéménd, has been screened at film
festivals in London, Montreal, Los Angeles, and New York. He has also directed and
produced films about Holocaust education and about music, some of which have been
awarded prizes at international film festivals.