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Kate McHugh

Woman with long light brown hair sits with her hands folded at a table in an office. She wears a black shirt and smiles.

Status: PhD Student

Adviser: Katie Turk and Erik Gellman

Graduate Email: mchughka@unc.edu

Education

B.A., Syracuse University, 2020: History, Physics, and Political Science
M.A., Oregon State University, 2022: History and Philosophy of Science
Thesis: "Early Adventures of a Home Economist: Ava B. Milam's Integration of Science and Home Economics at Oregon Agricultural College, 1911-1921"

Research Interests

I study the history of home economics education in the United States during the early twentieth century, particularly how it served as a gendered form of scientific education for women tailored to their contemporary roles as wives, mothers, and consumers in the home.

Some Notable Publications

  • “Ava Milam Clark” Oregon Encyclopedia , July 7, 2023
  • “Home Economics Extension Bulletins: Science to Alleviate Rural Women’s Drudgery,” Rural Women’s Studies, May 11, 2022

    • 554A Pauli Murray Hall*
    102 Emerson Dr., CB #3195
    Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3195

    *Though the History Department uses the name Pauli Murray Hall for our building, on official maps you will find it as Hamilton Hall. Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton’s intellectually dishonest historical and archival work promoted white supremacy. In contrast, Pauli Murray marshaled unassailable evidence and analysis in the service of racial and gender equality. In July 2020, all of the departments housed in the building agreed to adopt the name Pauli Murray Hall in place of Hamilton Hall. An official request with the Chancellor is pending. For more information, please see here.
    phone: 919.962.2115
    fax: 919.962.1403
    email: history@unc.edu
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