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Kaitlin Simpson

Curriculum Vitae

 

Department of History

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

915 Volunteer Blvd.

6th Floor Dunford Hall

Knoxville, TN 37996-4065

ksimps19@vols.utk.edu

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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

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