The History Department at Michigan State University welcomes Dr. Marissa Knaak as an assistant professor (fixed-term), specializing in late 19th- and early 20th-century labor and women’s history in Britain and Germany.
Dr. Knaak comes to the department fresh from MSU’s graduate history program. Prior to that, she lived in Washington, D.C. and worked in customer relations at the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum. In addition to her Ph.D. in modern European and women’s and gender history from MSU, Dr. Knaak holds two master’s degrees: one in public history from the University of York in York, United Kingdom, and one in gender and cultural studies from Simmons University. Her B.A. in history and German is from Augustana University.
What drew you to your area of historical research?
In my gender studies program, I took a course on socialism and gender, which shifted my whole focus toward labor history. During my coursework, I started thinking about customer service and its origins. I’ve always been interested in social history, particularly women’s lives, and turning that toward questions of labor and class has become my passion.
What new questions are you currently exploring?
I’m looking to expand my research on the relationship between physical space and retailing. Space influences and is influenced by our expectations and beliefs. In terms of department store retailing, space could be open and closed simultaneously: it could physically be without walls or formal divisions, but social norms could build walls that people would understand. This project includes 3D modeling based on architectural plans. The 3D modeling part I started when working with LEADR and in the Cultural Heritage Informatics fellowship. Right now, I only have one store model built, but I want to improve the quality of that model and build more, as well as putting the models into AR software for a “walk through” type experience.
As a side project, I’m working on other 3D modeling ideas and skills. Last year when I worked in LEADR, I built and printed a model of the Cologne Cathedral. I had to locate different architectural plans and information to create different elements and make it possible to print.
I also have an idea for a project with German city directories and women’s naming conventions. I really love city directories and what you can learn about a place and society through them. As I was doing research for my dissertation, I noticed that women in German directories (specifically in Cologne) used one of at least four different naming conventions, which varied over time. This included with and without given names, their surname at birth and/or married names, or just a title. Contrarily, in the British directories (from Sheffield), women were only every Miss or Mrs. This variety struck me, and I want to dig more into the actual prevalence of the practice as well as possible trends in residence and occupation.
What’s one historical misconception you often find yourself correcting?
That history as a subject is boring (people like history but hate memorizing dates and names). History is the story of everything—there’s always something to find fascinating.
What courses are you teaching this semester?
This semester I’m teaching:
- HST 140 World History to 1500, which I’m working to teach as a class I would have enjoyed taking as an undergraduate.
- HST 483 Seminar in Modern Europe on the Nation-State in 19th Century Europe, which works to get students to consider how “nation” can vary based on perspective and the process of nation-building in a time of rapid change.
- ISS 215 Social Differentiation and Inequality on style, mass consumption, and the social value of goods. This course is a way for me to talk about many of the non-history elements of my research. I’m hoping to challenge students to think more critically about the world they live in, their stuff, and who they are as individuals.
In the Spring I’m teaching HST 483 and ISS 215 again (same topics as this semester), as well as HST 201 Historical Methods and Skills, looking at narratives of history in popular media. Specifically, we will be looking at musical theater and history narratives to think about history as a discipline of determining what happened in the past and how people engage with it. This course engages with my interests in public history and musical theater. One of the main questions for discussion will be: how much does accuracy matter in period pieces?
What excites you most about joining the MSU community?
I’m excited about continuing to work with the undergrads here at MSU because I’ve really enjoyed interacting with them during my graduate work.
If you could travel to any historical moment (just to observe!), where would you go and why?
I’d love to be able to walk around one of the grand department stores from the turn of the 20th century. My research is primarily located within them, but most of the ones I study have been destroyed or remodeled beyond recognition.
What’s one thing you do for fun that might surprise your students and colleagues?
I have far too many hobbies but especially enjoy making things. One of my favorites is baking, especially in the winter and to share.