Owen Deis

Candidate, M.A. History (2026)

Email Owen Deis

Candidate M.A. History (2026)

Degrees and Institution:

B.A. Hons. (University of Saskatchewan), Cert. Peace Studies (University of Saskatchewan)

Supervisor:

Dr. Jennifer Evans

Academic Interests:

20th-Century Germany, Photographic History, German Memory Politics and Vergangenheitsbewältigung, Visual and Cultural History, the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, Memorialization, Genocide Prevention

Publications and Current Projects:
Published Deis, Owen. “Ideology, Occlusions, and Individualism in Memory Narratives at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” USURJ: University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal 11 no. 2 (2026). Deis, Owen. “Framing the Reich: Visual Narratives of Guilt in American-Occupied Germany.” USURJ: University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal 11 no. 1 (2025). Accepted Basaraba, Jael; Carr, Autumn, Deis, Owen, Rioux, Julian, Hoy, Benjamin. “Learning the Past Through Game Design.”Journal of the Canadian Historical Association (accepted 2026).

Publications and Current Projects:

Published
Deis, Owen. “Ideology, Occlusions, and Individualism in Memory Narratives at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” USURJ: University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal 11 no. 2 (2026).

Deis, Owen. “Framing the Reich: Visual Narratives of Guilt in American-Occupied Germany.”
USURJ: University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal 11 no. 1 (2025).

Accepted
Basaraba, Jael; Carr, Autumn, Deis, Owen, Rioux, Julian, Hoy, Benjamin. “Learning the Past Through Game Design.”Journal of the Canadian Historical Association (accepted 2026).

Description of Research:
My research will examine how material and visual culture, particularly photography, has shaped memory of 20th-century German history and ascribed meaning to it. By contrasting visual narratives with the experiences of ordinary Germans, occupying governments, and German state actors, I aim to demonstrate photography’s discursive effect and how its aesthetics shape understandings of historical events and themes.

Description of Research:

My research will examine how material and visual culture, particularly photography, has shaped memory of 20th-century German history and ascribed meaning to it. By contrasting visual narratives with the experiences of ordinary Germans, occupying governments, and German state actors, I aim to demonstrate photography’s discursive effect and how its aesthetics shape understandings of historical events and themes.