Katharine Keenan

Biography

Kate Keenan is originally from New Jersey. She joined the Carthage faculty in 2014, originally as a postdoctoral fellow in Western Heritage (now Intellectual Foundations), and taught for five years before becoming the senior director of foundation and corporate relations.

Kate holds a Ph.D. in applied anthropology from Columbia University. Her dissertation fieldwork was conducted in Northern Ireland, where she studied the role of public art in Belfast’s post-conflict redevelopment. Her book, “Belfast Imaginary: Art and Urban Reinvention,” came out in April 2022.

At Carthage, she taught Western Heritage and Intellectual Foundations, as well as courses in qualitative research, ethnography, history, and mythology. She developed a course titled “Ethnography of Kenosha,” in which students explored the city using qualitative methodologies from anthropology to learn and write about Kenosha.

In 2022, Kate became the senior director of foundation and corporate relations for the Office of Advancement. In this role, she writes grants to private and public foundations and fundraises through corporate sponsorships. No other job has ever put her ethnographic skills to as much use, and she loves the work of listening to campus and external partners, learning people’s needs and priorities, and sharing stories about the amazing work her colleagues are doing.