
Kaitlin Simpson
Curriculum Vitae
Department of History
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
915 Volunteer Blvd.
6th Floor Dunford Hall
Knoxville, TN 37996-4065
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EDUCATION
Expected August 2024 Ph.D., American History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Dissertation: “The Flowers of El Dorado: Gender, Production, and the Cut Flower Industry in Colombia and the United States”
May 2020 M.A., American History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Thesis: “Appalachia Abroad: The University of Tennessee and Cold War Rural Development Programs in India, 1954- 1972”
May 2018 B.A., History, summa cum laude, University of Louisiana Monroe
FIELDS
American History – 20th Century, United States and the World, US and Latin America, Gender, Labor, Agriculture, and the Environment
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2022 John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Arthur M. Schlesinger Fellowship
2022 Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Samuel Flagg Bemis Dissertation Research Grant
2022 Agricultural History Association Research, Dissemination, Public Outreach, and Exhibition Grant
2022 Economic History Association Exploratory Travel and Data Grant
2022 Summer Research Travel Grant, Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2022 Conference Travel Grant, Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2022 Graduate Student Senate Travel Award, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Declined)
2021-2022 Chancellor’s Fellowship Award, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2019 Summer Research Travel Grant, Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2018-2021 Graduate School Funds Fellowship, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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PUBLICATIONS
Forthcoming Book Review of Land of Milk and Money: The Creation of the Southern Dairy Industry in the Journal of Mississippi History, Spring/Summer 2023.
INVITED TALKS
April 2022 “Wars of the Roses: Gender, Activism, and Cut Flower Production in Colombia and the United States.” History of Colombia Honors Class, College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota, Virtual.
Oct. 2021 “Flower Power: Gender, Globalization, and the Cut Flower Industry in Latin America and the United States,” Southern Exchanges, Southern Historical Association Graduate Council, Virtual.
Feb. 2021 “Appalachia Abroad: The University of Tennessee and Rural Development Programs in Post-War India,” AfterWars Seminar, Center for the Study of War and Society, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
June 2023 “Labor Flowers: Print Culture and Labor Protests in Colombia’s Cut Flower Industry, 1988-1996,” Agricultural History Society Annual Conference, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Aug. 2022 “Flowers of El Dorado: Culture, Consumption, and the Creation of a Transnational Floriculture Industry,” Agricultural History Society Annual Conference, Stavanger, Norway.
March 2022 “The Flowers of El Dorado: Gender, Technology, and the Environment in the Colombian-U.S. Cut Flower Trade,” Indiana University History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine Fifth Annual Graduate Student Conference, Virtual.
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PANELS ORGANIZED
June 2023 “The Labor of Luxury in Global Commodity Production,” Agricultural History Society Annual Conference, Knoxville, Tennessee
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AWARDS
2022-2023 Charles O. Jackson Award for American History. University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Department of History
2021-2022 Josh Hodge Memorial Award for the Recovery of Lost Voices. University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Department of History.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Graduate Teaching Assistant – University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Fall 2022 History Department Research and Writing Tutor
Spring 2022 History of World Civilizations Origins – 1500
Fall 2021 Red Dead America: The Real History Behind the Popular Video Games
Spring 2021 Modern Latin American and Caribbean History
Fall 2020 Early Latin American and Caribbean History
Spring 2020 United States History Reconstruction – Present
Fall 2019 United States History Colonial Era – Reconstruction
Spring 2019 United States History Reconstruction – Present
Fall 2018 Western Civilization 1750 – Present
GUEST LECTURES
2022 “Helping Others Learn to Help Themselves: Global Development in the Cold War,” Science, Medicine, and Technology in World Perspective
2022 “The Persian Empire, 539-323 BCE,” History of World Civilizations Origins – 1500
2019 “The Spanish American War and U.S. Imperialism,” United States History Reconstruction – Present
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2020 Graduate Research Assistant, working with Dr. Tore C. Olsson on “The Global Cowboy: Country Music and American Empire in the Twentieth Century,” Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2019 Graduate Research Assistant, working with Dr. Brandon K. Winford on “Black Banking in the U.S. South Post-Reconstruction,” Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
SERVICE
2021-2023 Member, Graduate Student Council, Southern Historical Association
2022 Graduate Assistant, University of Tennessee Department of History Summer Bridge Program Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
2021 Graduate Student Representative, Graduate Committee Handbook Revision Task Force, Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
2020-2021 Department Representative, Graduate Student Senate, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Internal Committee: Legislative and Steering
2019-2021 Caucus Representative, History Graduate Affairs Committee, Department of History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & MEDIA OUTREACH
2021 Technical Support Volunteer, Smoky Mountain Counseling Association Annual Conference, Knoxville, TN, virtual due to COVID-19
2020-Present Producer and Co-Host, Add Men and Stir: A Women’s History Podcast, Knoxville, TN
2019 History Day Judge, National History Day East Tennessee Regional Competition, Knoxville, TN
LANGUAGES
Spanish: Intermediate Reading and Speaking
French: Intermediate Reading and Speaking
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Agricultural History Society
American Historical Association
American Society For Environmental Historians
Economic History Association
Latin American Studies Association
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
Southern Historical Association