Kate Diedrick
Kate Diedrick is a strategic researcher with the Communications Workers of America where she supports United Campus Worker locals across the Southeast. Before joining CWA Kate conducted campaign research for racial and economic justice organizations around the country; she began her career in the labor movement in 2012 as an organizer-in-training with SEIU, where she helped organize adjunct faculty in Boston.[1]
The Forge article
October 12, 2020 The Forge "Fighting Neoliberal Universities in States without Bargaining Rights" by Melanie Barron, Karly Safar, and Kate Diedrick.[2]
Walking tour of foreclosures
Kate Diedrick put her ideas to the test in the Master of Public Humanities program, helping to produce a walking tour of foreclosures. The lesson? On-the-ground work with community and academic allies can inform and help motivate structural change, she says.
Under the mentorship of Jo Guldi, Hans Rothfels Assistant Professor of History, Diedrick put a spotlight on foreclosures in Providence, focusing on renters in working class communities.
It’s a tale common to cities across the country, says Diedrick, who completied her degree in May 2015. “Tenants were being evicted with little warning and no support for relocation.”
Diedrick and Guldi launched a hybrid online and in-person walking tour for Guldi’s undergraduate course on Land Use and Capitalism. Inspired by lessons from Guldi’s research on the history of participatory mapping and other tools used by 19th and 20th century reformers, Diedrick developed a framework and a toolkit for scholars, activists and allies to re-imagine the walking tour.
The opportunity to work with Guldi as a research assistant came through the Public Humanities Fellows program, a new initiative at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Through it, faculty present research, collaborate with the community, and incorporate public engagement into a course.
As part of their training, Public Humanities students have the opportunity to work with Fellows or community partners. “Fellows benefit from the help and expertise of the Master’s students and the Master’s students get both experience, a project they can cite on their resume, and a term-time job,” says Susan Smulyan, Professor of American Studies and Director of the John Nicholas Brown Center. [3]