Dr. Kate Gibeault

Dr. Kate (DeConinck) Gibeault joined the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies as Director in 2022. She holds a B.A. degree (Religious Studies and English) from Connecticut College as well as a M.T.S. degree (Religion, Ethics, and Politics) and a Th.D.(Religion and Society) from Harvard Divinity School.

As an anthropologist of religion, Kate's expertise is in religion in the wake of mass atrocities. Her first major research project investigated meaning-making and framings of religion in lower Manhattan after 9/11. Trained in trauma-informed practices, Kate has gone on to work on other projects that center the experiences of individuals and communities that have endured life-shattering events. Some of her other areas of interest include: material culture, storytelling and ritualization, memorialization and memory, world religions and interfaith studies, and more.

Before arriving at Keene State, Kate worked at the University of San Diego, where she taught courses in religious studies (including a popular course on the Holocaust). She also served as co-director of the Urgent Challenges Collective, an initiative that supported research, teaching, and advocacy/community engagement on the issue of homelessness. She conducted actionable research on topics such as: mourning, death, and homelessness; stigmatization and homelessness; and, religious responses to homelessness.

In addition to her work at the Cohen Center, Kate serves as co-chair of the Teaching Religion Unit of the American Academy of Religion and as an advisor to the Pluralism Project at Harvard. She works closely on projects associated with Center for the Study of Religion and the City at Morgan State University, including an oral history project about the role of animal companions in the lives of diverse San Diegans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kate was born and raised in New Hampshire. She believes in the power of democratic, reciprocal relationships with partners on and off campus to create high-impact events and programs.

Photo credit: Hannah Schroeder/Keene Sentinel