Kate Kirwan ‘26

Kate Kirwan is a senior majoring in anthropology and Spanish, with a minor in history. She works with Political Science Professor Debra Javeline and her work on climate havens. They are currently co-authoring a paper titled "Where Should People Go? Target Destinations in the Study of Climate Change," which has been presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting and is now in the pre-submission phase. She is simultaneously working on her senior honors anthropology thesis, titled "Woven Witness: Chilean Arpilleras Then and Now," which examines the practice of political quilt-making in Chile from the Pinochet dictatorship to the present. Her project seeks to understand how themes, communities, and practices of the arpilleristas have evolved in a post-dictatorial context and how their work continues to serve as a form of memory and resistance.

Kirwan recently finished a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile, where she stayed following the end of the semester to conduct research for her thesis with support from a Franco Family Institute Summer Research grant. In the summer of 2024, Kirwan received a Summer Language Abroad grant through the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures and traveled to Granada, Spain in preparation for her semester in Chile. The previous summer (2023) Kirwan traveled to San José, Costa Rica with the Center for Social Concerns’ ND Bridge program where she worked with climate refugees from Nicaragua, at a community garden, and at an environmental office. Kirwan hopes to continue pursuing questions related to urban planning and climate justice through her work with the Kellogg Institute and Professor Javeline. Kirwan's additional research interests include museum studies/material culture and third places.

Thesis Title: Woven Witness: Chilean Arpilleras Then and Now

Thesis Adviser: Eric Haanstad