Kaitlyn (Kat) is a first year PhD student with interests in public history and Canadian social history. Under the supervision of Professor Caroline-Isabelle Caron, she hopes to examine how dark tourism impacts the Kingston community’s social memory. She has always had an interest in tourist and heritage sites that have a darker past and wanted to examine of how specific sites influence people’s understanding of its history. She hopes to use the skills she learned in Public History to engage with the community and make her work accessible. Kat has been interviewed on her dark tourism work by Western University’s Gradcast Radio, Dr. Samantha Cutrara’s “Source Saturday”, and was a guest speaker for Western’s Digital History class on dark tourism.
Kat has had the opportunity to engage with the public through her work at Banting House National Historic Site, where she co-curated an exhibit titled, “Dear Dr. Banting” which makes accessible, the letters written by guests left in Dr. Banting’s bedroom. She currently works for the Museum of Ontario Archaeology as the Museum Coordinator.
In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, blogging, photography, and cosplaying.
Co-Curator, “Dear Dr. Banting”, Banting House National Historic Site, 2020.
https://deardrbanting.wordpress.com/
Interviewee, “50 Shades of Tourism”, Western’s Gradcast Radio, 2020.
https://gradcastradio.podbean.com/e/episode-272-kat-macdonald/
Interviewee, “Source Saturday: Dark Tourism”, Dr. Samantha Cutrara, 2020.
