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Katherine Aiken

Professor Emeritus

Mailing Address

University of Idaho
P.O. Box 443154
Moscow, Idaho 83844-3154

Katherine Aiken is an Emeritus professor of history with an emphasis in social and cultural history, women and labor.

  • Ph.D. History, Washington State University, 1980
  • M.A., History, University of Oregon, 1974
  • B.A., History, University of Idaho, 1972

Katherine Aiken is a 20th century U.S. historian with an emphasis in social and cultural history, women and labor. As a historian, she is the author of three books and is an active speaker who is well known and often invited to speak throughout the Pacific Northwest. 

Aiken has also won numerous teaching awards which include the ASUI Outstanding Faculty Award, the University of Idaho Award for Teaching Excellence and has received the Alumni Award for Excellence five times. In addition, she was a leader in establishing the current University of Idaho General Education Core Curriculum that includes a Core Discovery program.

  • Social and Cultural History
  • Women and Labor

Books

  • Aiken, Katherine G. and Stoddart, Erin., The University of Idaho, Arcadia Press, 2016.
  • Aiken, Katherine G., Kevin Marsh, Laura Woodworth-Ney, Idaho: The Heroic Journey, Cherbo Publishing, 2006. 
  • Idaho’s Bunker Hill: The Rise and Fall of a Great Mining Company, 1885-1981, University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. 
  • Harnessing the Power of Motherhood: The National Florence Crittenton Mission, 1883-1925, University of Tennessee Press, 1998. (Nominated for the Berkshire Women’s Historical Award)

Chapters

  • “Sister Aimee Semple McPherson and the Interwar West, 1920-1940,” in Richard Eutlain, ed. Western Lives: A Biographical History of the American West, University of New Mexico Press, 2004, 305-326.
  • “Idaho,” in Benjamin F. Shearer, ed., The United States: The Story of Statehood for the Fifty United States, Greenwood Press, 2004, vol. 1:325-356.
  • “Western Smelters and the Problems of Smelter Smoke,” in Dale Goble, Paul Hirt, eds., Northwest Lands and Peoples, University of Washington Press, 1999, 501-522.
  • “The Struggles for Equality and Diversity, 1854-1975,” in Documents Collection, Worth Publishers, 1993, 337-362.

  • Idaho Humanities Council, 2006-present  (Vice Chair Executive Board, served as Chair)
  • Project Humanist for twenty-eight Idaho Humanities Council Projects
  • Over forty public presentations and teacher institutes in last ten years
  • Idaho State Board of Education Certification of Teacher Education Programs Team (Albertson College, BYU-Idaho and Northwest Nazarene)
  • State of Idaho, Department of Education, Professional Standards Commission, 2008 - present
  • Panelist for National Endowment for the Humanities eight times

  • Alumni Award for Excellence, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009
  • University of Idaho Panhellenic Council Outstanding Faculty Award, 1989 and 2009
  • Virginia Wolf Distinguished Service Award, University of Idaho Women’s Center, 2006
  • Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Professor, 2005
  • Associated Students, University of Idaho, Outstanding Faculty Award, 2000 and 2004
  • University of Idaho Professional Women’s Association Woman of the Year, 2003
  • Organization of American Historians/Japanese Association for American Studies Residency in Japan, Rikkyo University, 2001
  • Student Disabilities Services Outstanding Faculty Award, 2001
  • University of Idaho Award for Teaching Excellence, 2000
  • Faculty Fellow, Excellence in Teaching the Humanities Program, 1998-1999

History

Physical Address:
315 Administration Building

Mailing Address:
History Department
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 3175
Moscow, ID 83844-3175

Phone: 208-885-6253

Fax: 208-885-5221

Email: history@uidaho.edu

Web: History Department

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