Dr. Whitlock is a Lecturer in European and British History at the University of Kentucky. Whitlock’s scholarly work has focused on popular and government reform of the criminal justice system in England, public perceptions of criminality and gender, and the links between the rise of consumer culture and new definitions of crime and insanity in Victorian and Edwardian England. Her book Crime, Gender and Consumer Culture in Nineteenth-Century England, appeared with Ashgate in 2005. Dr. Whitlock is currently working on two new projects. Her article on politics and the realities of spousal killing in the 1800s is currently under review. She continues to examine this topic through the international feminist campaign supporting convicted murderess, Florence Maybrick (1880s-1900s). She is also starting work on a new topic on the history of the British Library. This work examines the cultural significance of the Library and especially the Round Reading Room in the British Museum.

Area of Specialization

Dr. Whitlock offers courses to undergraduates and graduates in her areas of specialization including the history of Modern Europe, Gender, and Crime and, of course, Britain. Her subspecialties include the development of nationalisms, international political movements against violence, agency and criminality in consumer culture.  A recently taught undergraduate course, History 301, History Workshop: Famous Trials, teaches historical research and writing through the examination of famous U.S. and European trials that shaped the 1800s-1900s.  For example, recent topics in this course have focused on the connections between changes in the law and the professionalization of medicine.  In the Spring Whitlock will offer a new course on History 595, Gender and Empire with a concentration on British influenced areas such as India and South Africa.  History 554, British History, 1780-1914 covers manifestations of Enlightenment politics in Britain, the rise of the working classes, Empire, gender and suffrage, and popular culture. History 555, British History Since 1901 emphasizes the history of the First World War, the rise of Labour, high politics and diplomacy in the era of Churchill, and stresses the connections between economic decline, the rise of Thatcherism and the British musical “invasions” of the 20th century. 

About Me

• Personal  Hero: Kate L. Turabian
• Favorite People: Johnny Rotten, Elizabeth II and  Dorothy Parker
• Wish I Could Have Been: A Militant Suffragette
• Dead Prime Minister I would Like to Meet: Benjamin Disraeli
• Favorite Vacation Spot: Wigwam Village #2, Cave City
• Jane Austen Character I Would Most Likely Marry: Mr. Bennet
• Guilty Pleasure Literature: SHE by H. Rider Haggard
• Favorite Artist: John Martin
• If I Lived in the Nineteenth Century Would Have to Make a Living: Selling Pen-Wipers at Bazaars
• In the Twenty-First Century Most Likely to End Up: Selling Pen-Wipers at Bazaars
  

• Book: Crime, Gender, and Consumer Culture in Nineteenth Century England. The History of Retailing and Consumption Series. Ashgate, Spring 2005.
• Article: “Femininity, Masculinity and the History of Violence: Spouse Murder in Nineteenth-Century England” (under review), 2009
• Essay: “Conspicuous Toy Consumption and the Modern Child.” In Major Problems in the History of American Families and Children: Documents and Essays. Edited by Anya Jabour. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
• Article: “Gender, Medicine, and Consumer Culture in Victorian England: Creating Kleptomania,” Albion (Fall 1999)