Dr Chelsea Sambells

Originally from Calgary, Canada, I have lived and worked mostly in Scotland and the North of England. Before coming to the University of Stirling, I was a Lecturer in History at the University of Huddersfield and Head of Research & Partnerships at Holocaust Centre North in Yorkshire. I’ve taught at universities in Canada, Switzerland, and the UK and have also enjoyed freelance work, particularly for human rights charities, education charities and children’s advocacy and policy. For many years, I volunteered at Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), while also appointed as the Secretary of my local residents’ association in Edinburgh’s Southside.

I am a historian of the 20th Century with special interest in the Second World War, the Holocaust, refugees, children and humanitarianism.

I began my career in Communication Studies, gaining two degrees from the University of Calgary before transitioning to the field of history. After completing my MSc and PhD in history at the University of Edinburgh, I have worked diligently to expand my research and its relevance to other disciplines, including collaborating with scholars in Translation & Interpretation, Education, and English Literature to create interdisciplinary projects with excellent grant capture. I've also conducted policy research for human rights and children's charities, and enjoy putting my historical perspective to use when interrogating current events and policies.

In 2020-22, I was awarded funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation for an international collaborative project at the University of Geneva's Faculty of Translation and Interpreting alongside Dr Elisabeth Moeckli. We explored the strategic importance of translation and interpreting within Swiss humanitarian intervention, especially between governments and NGOs during the Second World War.

My most recent project has been writing a book about the evacuation of 60,000 French, Belgian and Yugoslav children to Switzerland (1940-45) to better understand how governments and humanitarian organisation have historically and culturally protected children in war. 'The Exceptional Evacuation' is currently under review and due to be published with McGill-Queens University Press, Canada's leading academic publisher, in 2025/6.