Kelly Whitmer

Kelly J. Whitmer is an Associate Professor of History at the University of the South (Sewanee), where she teaches courses at the intersection of the history of science and medicine, youth culture, pedagogy, religion, and emotion in the early modern world. She holds a B.A. from Colgate University, an M.A. from Western Washington University, and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia.

• B.A., Colgate University
• M.A., Western Washington University
• Ph.D., University of British Columbia

Her research focuses on the history of collections, scientific communities, and social experimentation. She has received funding from the Associated Colleges of the South, Appalachian College Association, and prestigious fellowships including the Herzog-Ernst-Scholarship, Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel Forschungsverbund fellowship, and Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. She co-edited a special issue of Notes and Records on eighteenth-century knowledge economies and is currently guest editing a 2025 special issue of the Journal of the History of Knowledge titled 'Knowledge and Power: Projecting the Modern World.'

Whitmer’s work explores the role of youth in shaping scientific practices, particularly through her book Useful Natures: Science and the Power of Youth in Early Modernity, which examines how early modern scholars, physicians, and educators investigated the physical and intellectual capacities of young people. Her articles highlight themes such as play, material culture, and pedagogical realism in early modern educational reform.

• Herzog-Ernst-Scholarship, Forschungszentrum Gotha (Universität Erfurt)
• Fellowship, Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel Forschungsverbund (MWW)
• Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

She chairs the History Department and has contributed to academic discourse through book reviews, workshops (funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation), and collaborations with institutions like the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Georg August University of Göttingen, and the University of Hamburg.