Kathryn Lasdow (PhD in History, Columbia University) is Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Public History concentration at Suffolk University, where she teaches courses in American history, women’s history, global and cultural history, public history/museum studies, and architectural history. Her classes support the History major and minor, but also serve as electives in Global Cultural Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, Environmental Studies, and the college’s Social and Intellectual History (SIH) and Social, Cultural, Global Perspectives (SCGP), and Creativity & Innovation (CI) requirements.
Katy’s teaching has been recognized for its emphasis on experiential learning, community outreach, and inclusive pedagogy that acknowledges the perspectives and experiences of historically underrepresented groups. Her lectures have been featured on CSPAN’s American History TV and on Curiosity University. She also serves as Faculty Director for the high school Summer Public History Institute.
Her book manuscript Wharfed Out: Improvement and Inequity on the Early American Urban Waterfront is currently under contract with the University of Virginia Press, and she has published articles and book reviews in The Journal of the Early Republic and Reviews in History. Katy was a National Endowment for the Humanities Long-Term Fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society during the spring of 2023 and has received research funding from institutions such as the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, and George Washington's Mount Vernon.
Katy partners with museums and cultural institutions as a consultant on exhibitions, digital projects, and educational programming. She has worked as an educator, researcher, and curator at the Brooklyn Historical Society, Boston Public Library's Leventhal Map Center, the Historic American Buildings Survey, the White House Historical Association, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Museum of the City of New York. Katy has a strong interest in digital humanities, participatory museum strategies, and K-12 curricular development.
In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Katy is a dedicated musician and performer. She plays the oboe with the New Philharmonia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Wind Symphony.
