A faculty member from Florida State University has been honored with a statewide teaching accolade for her influence as an educator in the realm of historic preservation from a nonprofit organization dedicated to safeguarding Florida’s historic locations and heritage.
Kathleen Powers Conti, an assistant professor in FSU’s Department of History, received the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Roy E. Graham Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation Education and was celebrated at the Preservation on Main Street Conference in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
“I’m truly honored that my peers thought of me for this award, and I’m deeply appreciative of the chance to collaborate with such incredible faculty and students here at FSU,” Conti expressed. “I enjoy demonstrating to students how they can utilize what they’ve learned in a history classroom and implement it in various careers, including roles with the National Park Service, museums, and local, state, and federal entities.”
“Professor Conti incorporates hands-on activities that transition students from gaining fundamental knowledge to participating in creative endeavors. This recognition underscores the significance of FSU’s history program to Floridians eager to maintain the historic integrity of their neighborhoods.”
– Jennifer Koslow, Department of History chair
The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, established in 1978, is a nonprofit entity committed to preserving Florida’s history and heritage. The Roy E. Graham Award is named in honor of historic preservation architect and educator Roy Eugene Graham and acknowledges professional educators who have made enduring contributions to historic conservation education, ensuring that future generations will continue to protect Florida’s legacy and its most vulnerable locations.
“My interdisciplinary teaching methodology is enhanced by my professional experiences as a public historian alongside my scholarly research on the interactions between built and natural environments,” stated Conti, who became part of FSU’s faculty in 2022. “I cherish the opportunity to demonstrate to students how to apply classroom knowledge to real-world initiatives with community partners. This enables my students to build a portfolio of exemplary projects showcasing their research, analysis, and writing for prospective employers.”
At FSU, Conti imparts knowledge in courses covering historic preservation, museum studies, public history, architectural history, and environmental history for both graduate and undergraduate students. In these classes, she underscores the value of engaging in place-based learning at historical sites and frequently involves students in practical preservation projects.
“In my historic preservation class, students investigate and assess a structure of their choice in Tallahassee to compile an entry for the Florida Master Site File, our state’s official register of historical and cultural assets, and draft a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places,” Conti explained. “Through place-based education, our class visits a historical site or landscape to examine and analyze it collectively, ensuring students gain comprehensive, practical experiences.”
Conti also guides student research initiatives as an instructor for the history department’s senior seminar, a capstone course where students create their own research projects and is an affiliated faculty member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center at FSU.
Beyond teaching, Conti’s chapter in “Architectures of Slavery: Ruins and Reconstructions” was recently released by the University of Virginia Press and she also acts as a co-principal investigator for a $300,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, which focuses on improving the identification and protection of historical and cultural resources.
“My research assists individuals and communities in safeguarding the narratives and places that hold significance for them,” she remarked. “This preservation is crucial for us in the present but also to guarantee that these stories and places are preserved for future generations.”
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