Kelly J. Whitmer

Kelly J. Whitmer is Professor of History at Sewanee: The University of the South's Department of History, specializing in early modern European science and education. She holds a B.A. from Colgate University, M.A. from Western Washington University, and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. Her research examines scientific communities, pedagogical reforms, and youth's role in knowledge production, particularly in German-speaking Central Europe (1500-1900).

Whitmer's work explores how institutions like orphanages and schools functioned as sites for scientific experimentation. Her forthcoming book, Useful Natures (2026), analyzes youth's relationship with future-oriented knowledge. Key research themes include:

• Object-based pedagogy and museum collections
• Eclecticism in scientific observation
• Knowledge/power dynamics in Enlightenment projects
• Social experimentation through educational reform

Her 9 recent publications (2015-2025) cluster around material culture in education, with emphases on:

• Mineralogical/fossil collections as teaching tools
• Realia and 'useful play' in pedagogical reforms
• Orphanages as scientific communities
• Global histories of knowledge projection

Notable recognitions include:

• Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship
• Herzog-Ernst-Scholarship (Universität Erfurt)
• Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel Fellowship
• Grants from Fritz Thyssen Foundation and Associated Colleges of the South

She collaborates extensively with European institutions (e.g., Universität Hamburg, MPI Berlin) and edits journals like Nuncius and Journal of the History of Knowledge. At Sewanee, she teaches courses on archives, museums, and early modern crises.