Department Faculty

"I am a cultural and social historian of nineteenth-century America, with a special interest in the history of agriculture, landscape, architecture, and gender as they develop in rural contexts. My research has examined the evolution of domestic architecture in the rural North; the social transformation of dairying in the nineteenth century; and rural life and landscape in a western Pennsylvania community. Currently I am principal investigator for a multi-year collaborative project, 'The Pennsylvania Agricultural History Project,' which will create a resource that can be used by preservation professionals to evaluate Pennsylvania's historic farm buildings and landscapes. Partners include the PSU Department of Landscape Architecture, the state Bureau for Historic Preservation, and the state department of transportation. The end product will have a Web dimension, as well as a 'Multiple Property Documentation Form' for formal use in the evaluation process for the National Register of Historic Places. Graduate students from History and Landscape Architecture have been funded through this project. In my undergraduate teaching, I enjoy getting students out into the field to learn about history by using buildings as primary sources."