American Civil War

military history

environmental history

reconstruction

STEM

Education

Ph.D., 2010, and M.A., 2005, University of Virginia
B.A., 2002, University of California, Berkeley

Research

Kathryn “KT” Shively (they/them) is a military and environmental historian, with a particular focus on the American Civil War and Reconstruction. Their research and teaching interests involve the evolution of America’s armed forces from the 1600s through the 1900s, the relationship between human health and nature, and epistemology (how we know what we know and how knowledge is valued). They also study the intersection of scholarly history and public memory. The interdisciplinary field of Science, Technology, and Society informs their methodology.

Recent Publications

• "Immortal Confederacy: Jubal A. Early and the War for History" (forthcoming April 2027, University of Georgia Press)
• "The Second Manassas Campaign," edited with Caroline E. Janney (2025, University of North Carolina Press)
• "Nature's Civil War: Common Soldiers and the Environment in 1862 Virginia" (2013, University of North Carolina Press)

Awards/Major Fellowships and Grants

• 2014, Winner of the Wiley-Silver Prize, Best First Book in Civil War History
• 2011, Winner of Edwin M. Coffman First-Manuscript Prize, The Society for Military History
• 2024-25, Mark and Ann Persun Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Penn State University
• 2023-26, with Paul Quigley (Virginia Tech), "Experiencing Civil War History Through Augmented Reality: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Environment at Pamplin Historical Park," National Endowment for the Humanities: Digital Projects for the Public