Lori Kenschaft’s Homepage

Welcome! The purpose of this website is to share ideas and information about gardening, history, and other topics that I find interesting and hope other people will too.

A brief autobiographical note: I am an intellectual omnivore living in Arlington, Massachusetts. I am trained as an American historian, with a Masters of Theological Studies and a Ph.D. in American Studies, and I have published two books and taught twelve different courses at Boston University and Harvard University. I have also, however, been dealing with something the doctors call chronic fatigue syndrome since 1988, which made it impossible to achieve the publication rate required to get a tenure track position nowadays. I loved teaching, but most semesters ended with a relapse. In January 2006, after years of physical pain and emotional frustration, I gave up on having a professional career – a decision I have never regretted.

I now devote much of my time to earth-friendly gardening (both doing and teaching) and the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, where I am the chair of the property committee and occasionally preach, lead adult religious education courses, start butterfly gardens, etc. My first intellectual love (starting at age four) was biology, and when I was an undergraduate at Swarthmore College I did a double major in biology and religion with a concentration in women’s studies. In 1988 I entered the Harvard Divinity School with the intention of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister, but when I got sick I had to give up that dream. So both gardening and participating in a religious community feel like going back to my deep roots.

For more information, read my vita. For much more information, read my intellectual autobiography (written in July 1998, so much out of date but hopefully still of interest).

Gardening /// Sermons ///  My Books /// Other People’s Books /// Papers and Talks on the History of Gender and Sexuality /// Celebration of Partnership /// Living with CFS /// Other Writings

Gardening Philosophy & Resources
Sermons
My Books
Other People's Books  (These are annotated bibliographies, sometimes with additional commentary.  I’ve tried to provide enough content that, if you are interested in these topics, you will get something of value just from reading the post, whether or not you go on to the recommended books.)

Papers on the History of Gender and Sexuality
Talks on the History of Gender and Sexuality
Celebration of Partnership  (June 24, 2000)
Living with CFS  
Other Writings
Email address:  ljk at the location of tigana dot org