Dr. Ruth Fairbanks

Dr. Ruth Fairbanks
Senior Instructor
Multidisciplinary Studies; History, Department of
Arts and Sciences, College of
282 Holmstedt Hall
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812-237-4333

Education

  • Ph.D. - U.S. History since 1815, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - 2015
  • M.A. - History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - 1998
  • B.A. - History, Hiram College - 1992

Professional Webpage

Dr. Fairbanks graduated from Hiram College before going to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Somewhere along the way to earning her PhD in History, she worked at a domestic violence shelter, was a farm hand and taught eight grade math. Dr. Fairbanks has been teaching at ISU since 2010, except for 2017-2018 when she held a Fulbright in Norway. Dr. Fairbanks was a Roving Scholar and spent the year teaching at videregående skole all over the country. At ISU, Dr. Fairbanks teaches in the Department of Multidisciplinary Studies and the Department of History. In History, she teaches courses on American Women, Immigration and Health Policy. In MST she teaches Intro to Gender Studies, Gender, Race and Nation and the capstone research seminar for our seniors. She’s the co-coordinator of the Gender Studies program and advisor for students majoring in Multidisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Gender Studies. Dr. Fairbanks enjoys pulling together programming, like the annual Women’s History Month Colloquium and occasional events offering a historical perspective on a contemporary development.

Licensures and Certifications

Teaching Interests

  • US. History, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Nationalism, Immigration History, History of Health Policy

Intellectual Contributions

  • “Roving Reflections: Three American Scholars, the Tenth Rule of Janteloven, and 392 First Days of Class,” - Transformations The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy - 2019

Research Interests

  • U.S. History, Comparative Welfare States, History of Social Policy, History of Feminism, History of Reproduction

Ruth Fairbanks has taught at ISU since the 2010/2011 school year. She completed her docorate in history from the University of Illinois in December 2015. Her dissertation, “A Pregnancy Test: Women Workers and the Hybrid American Welfare State,1940-1993” traces the evolution of American maternity policy for working women, from WWII's Rosie the Riveter to the Family and Medical Leave Act. Dr. Fairbanks is revising this manuscript for publication. At ISU, in addition to teaching in both gender studies and history, Dr. Fairbanks advises students in the Gender Studies Minor and works on campus programming, in particular for Women's Equality Day every August 26th and the ISU Women's History Month Colloquium every March.

GNDR 200: Introduction to Gender Studies, GNDR 301: Gender, Race and Naiton, Hist 113: American Women in the Twentieth Century, Hist 113: Immigrant America

2015, Ph. D. in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1998, Masters in History from the university of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1992, BA in History from Hiram College

History of American Social Policy, History of Motherhood and Reproduction, Women's Labor History, Women's History, Twentieth Century American History,