Dr. Kyle Ciani

Fridays, 10:30-11:30 AM
Or by appointment.
- About
- Education
- Awards & Honors
- Research
Biography
Professor Ciani specializes in the histories of women and gender across the Americas, with a focus on social justice issues. She is a Core Faculty member for the Women's, Gender & Sexualities Studies (WGSS) program, the History Department's liaison to the Honors Program, and the advisor for the Registered Student Organization, Women's History Club. Ciani is also involved with efforts by museum professionals to diversify exhibition spaces and with better integrating the histories of women and girls into K-12 curricula. She has worked on the National Women's History Museum Congressional Commission, the committee to secure the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument as a National Park Site, and is a member of the National Advisory Committee for the 1977 Women’s Conference Digital History Project.
Current Courses
135.001History Of The United States To 1865
135.007History Of The United States To 1865
135.008History Of The United States To 1865
262.001History of Women in the United States Since 1865
299.001Independent Honor Study
490.004Readings -- Field Of Study
330.001The Family In History
Teaching Interests & Areas
Histories of Women & Gender in the Americas; American Family; Women's Activism in the Americas.
Research Interests & Areas
In her book, Choosing to Care: One Hundred Years of Childcare and Social Reform in San Diego, 1850-1950 (University of Nebraska Press, 2019) Ciani assessed how the changing culture of work in transborder communities directed childcare strategies and policy formation. Her current research project is a study of educational developments in the mid-twentieth century on Native American reservations in the southwest.
Ph D History of Women & Gender
MA History
BA History
Influential & Inspirational History/Social Sciences Education Faculty
Influential & Inspirational History/Social Sciences Education Faculty
Outstanding Service (Humanities)
Leaguer of the Year
Influential & Inspirational History/Social Sciences Education Faculty
Impact Award
Woman of Distinction Nominee
Impact Award
David A. Strand Diversity Achievement Award
ISU Leadership Initiative
Book, Authored
Ciani, Kyle E. Choosing to Care: One Hundred Years of Childcare and Social Reform in San Diego, 1850-1950. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019.
Book, Chapter
Kyle Ciani, "San Diego Zoo, San DIego, California," in American Tourism: Constructing a National Tradition, J. Mark Souther and Nicholas Dagen Bloom, eds. (Center for American Places at Columbia College Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012), 227-236.
Journal Article
Kyle E. Ciani, “A ‘Growing Evil’ or ‘Inventive Genius’: Anglo Perceptions of Indian Life in San Diego, 1850-1900,” Southern California Quarterly, 89:3 (Fall 2007): 249-284.
Kyle E. Ciani, “Hidden Laborers: Female Day Workers in Detroit, 1870-1920,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 4:1 (January 2005): 23-51.
Kyle E. Ciani, “Revelations of a Reformer: Helen D. Marston Beardsley and Progressive Activism,” Journal of San Diego History 50:1/2 (Summer/Fall 2004): 102-123.
Kyle E. Ciani, “The Power of Maternal Love: Negotiating a Child’s Care in Progressive-era San Diego,” Journal of the West 41:4 (Fall 2002): 71-79.