Kate Dunsmore is professor emeritus in the Department of Communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her current research examines American Revolutionary era newspaper production with a focus on what timeliness meant to eighteenth century readers.

How did you become involved with AJHA?

I think I learned about AJHA first at the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, about 12 years ago. I really enjoy the AJHA conferences; people are nice and always have interesting things to talk about.

How did you develop your interest in journalism or media history?

It started with my dissertation, which analyzed the role of the press in the US-Canada alliance in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. I noticed some frames being taken up with great vigor, more than seemed justifiable by the current event. An example was the “terror haven” framing of Canada following the 9/11 terror attack. That got me thinking about how deeply engrained was the framing of Canada as a suspect haven. Before long, I was back to the era of the American Revolution. So, I am starting there.

What makes you most excited about teaching or research?

I’m now Professor Emeritus, so not really teaching anymore. What I found most exciting was seeing students who might be struggling—perhaps because they were first in their families to attend college—then find their footing.

I’m very excited to have the time for research now. My teaching and service load was quite heavy, but I retain full library privileges and am burning up the online databases and interlibrary loan. I take an inductive approach to research, so it's exciting not to know how things will transpire. For example, currently I am looking at references to timeliness in Revolutionary era newspapers. But, then, I felt the need to know about conceptions of time in the prior century or two. Reading about the early modern personal letters sent, copied and distributed, I realized that expectations of timeliness of newsletters shifted with respect to newspapers and possibly shift again in America in the Revolutionary era.

What question(s) do you wish fellow researchers or colleagues would ask about your work?

I’ve never worried about that! The communication and journalism history community has been very welcoming. I’m glad to see the conversation about interdisciplinary approaches to communication and journalism history. Social phenomena are complex. I’m confident that tools such as discourse analysis are helpful in accurately analyzing the past.

What hobbies or activities do you enjoy outside of academia?

I’m converting what was suburban lawn into native perennial gardens. So far, so good! I also now have time to attempt more challenging work in textile arts, including garment design.