Kristen Petersen, PhD
Associate Professor of History and Social Sciences
School
School of Arts and Sciences
Department
School of Arts and Sciences
Office Location
White 202A
Boston
Office Phone Office Phone: 617.879.5916
About
Kristen Petersen is associate professor of History and Social Sciences, coordinator of the Women’s Studies Minor and LIB 133 American Culture, Identity and Public Life (Introduction to the Social Sciences). She teaches courses in immigration, social justice activism and women’s studies. In 2000-2001 and 2015 she served as historian and curator for exhibit design of Dreams of Freedom, Boston’s immigrant heritage museum. She was the Polly Logan Scholar at the Center for the Study of Women in Politics and Public Policy at UMASS Boston in 2004-5. Prior to her teaching career, Kristen was executive director of the Waltham Rediscovered Community History Project. She is co-author of the book, Waltham Rediscovered: An Ethnic History of Waltham, MA and As Tough As It Gets: Women in Boston Politics, 1921-2004.
Education
- MA History, University of Massachusetts-Boston
- MA American Studies, Brown University PhD American Studies, Brown University
- Postdoctoral Fellow, American Studies, Brandeis University
Research Interests
- Immigration experiences
- Fairy tales
- Gender in American popular culture
Programs
Featured Affiliations
New England Historical Association, executive committee Co-Chair, University Promotion Review Committee
HBSSC Representative Arts & Sciences Assessment Committee Member, School of Art s& Sciences Anti-Racist Teaching Group Center for Healthcare Humanities Advisory Board
Member, NEASC Subcommittee Standard 4: Organization of Administration and Academic Planning, Institutional Effectiveness
Education
- MA History, University of Massachusetts-Boston
- MA American Studies, Brown University PhD American Studies, Brown University
- Postdoctoral Fellow, American Studies, Brandeis University
Research Interests
- Immigration experiences
- Fairy tales
- Gender in American popular culture
Programs
Publications
- Petersen, K. & Hardy-Fanta, C. (2005) As Tough As It Gets: Women and the Boston City Council, 1920
- Petersen, K. & Hardy-Fanta, C. (2005) As Tough As It Gets: Women and the Boston City Council, 1920
- 2004. Boston: Center for the Study of Women in Politics and Public Policy, UMASS Boston. Petersen, K. (2005). Neighborhoods--Ethnic and Racial. In The Encyclopedia of the History of New England, New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Petersen, K. & Krein, S. (2003, Spring) Weathering the Storm: History Museums in the Post 9/11
- Petersen, K. & Krein, S. (2003, Spring) Weathering the Storm: History Museums in the Post 9/11
- Commonwealth. History News 58:2, 12-13.
- Petersen, K. (2003). No More the Faith of Our Fathers: Immigrant Converts and Boston’s Churches, 1890-1940. In Wright, C. & Ueda, R., eds., Faces of Community: Immigrant Massachusetts, 1840-2000. Boston: Northeastern University Press for The Massachusetts Historical Society, 147-188.
- Petersen, K. (2003). No More the Faith of Our Fathers: Immigrant Converts and Boston’s Churches, 1890-1940. In Wright, C. & Ueda, R., eds., Faces of Community: Immigrant Massachusetts, 1840-2000. Boston: Northeastern University Press for The Massachusetts Historical Society, 147-188.
- Petersen, K. (2003). Immigrants Convert in Boston, 1890-1940.” In O’Toole, J. & Quigley, D., eds.
- Petersen, K. (2003). Immigrants Convert in Boston, 1890-1940.” In O’Toole, J. & Quigley, D., eds.
- Boston’s Histories: Essays in Honor of Thomas H. O’Connor. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press.
- Petersen, K. (2001). Dreams of Freedom (Lawrenceburg, IN: The Creative Company).
- Petersen, K. (1988, 1989, 2000). Waltham Rediscovered; An Ethnic History of Waltham, Massachusetts.
- Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall, Publisher.
- Petersen, K. (1988). Waltham: 1888-1937. In Waltham Through Time, 1738-1988. Waltham, MA: The
- Waltham Historical Society.
Awards and Honors
- Teaching Excellence in the School of Arts and Sciences, 2013
More Affiliations
- Member, LGBTQ+ Task Force and former advisor to student LGBTQ+ club