Karen S. Kimball
Associate Professor of History
B.A., M.A., University of Tennessee
Ph.D., Emory University
Title: Associate Professor of History
Phone: 207-255-1262
Email: kkimball@maine.edu
Location: University of Maine at Machias
2 Kimball Hall
9 O'Brien Avenue
Machias, Maine 04654
Office Hours: Mondays and Fridays 10am-noon during academic year
Biography:
I came to history through a circuitous path after working first at a nursing home, then a funeral supply warehouse and crematorium, and later a flowershop (is there a theme?). I also have a background in textile arts, which I tapped into for an interdiscipinary project that emerged from a recent sabbatical.
More formally, I have a PhD in history from Emory University, and an MA in History/Historic Preservation from the University of Tennessee. My research interests include local and regional history, and I spent the past few years engaged in a multi-disciplinary Maine Humanities Council grant-funded study of an African American community in Machias that concluded a year or so ago.
Building on a recent National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute in Applachian studies, I spent my sabbatical last spring and summer exploring connections between coal mining in southern Appalachia, and lumbering in Maine. The study will appear in a series of stitched, batik textile panels that explore the landscape along the Appalchian spine and will be accompanied by a gallery talk in 2010.
I am also finishing work on a series of thematic essays dealing with local and regional history to contextualize online history exhibits for the Maine Historical Society. This NEH funded Maine History Online project, with my thematic essays and the chronological and methodological essays from other scholars, will be up fall 2009. Project scholars will also participate in follow-up workshops and events to help area educators become familiar with the concepts and practices of researching local history.
In all such endeavors, I bring my scholarly interests into the classroom either in the form of special topics courses, or in opportunities for undergraduate research and engaged learning.
World History Courses Taught
- World History to 1500
- World History since 1500
- Comparative Slavery
- Global Environmental History
American History Courses Taught
- American History to 1865
- American History since 1865
- Maine and Local History
- American Women's History
- Native American History
- African American History