Nicole Schroeder
Office Hours: 2-4 PM Mondays
Field & Specialties
History of Disability
Medical History
Early American Political Economy
Education
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Ph.D History of Disability, Expected December 2020; MA History, December 2017
Examination Fields: Early American History 1584-1815, United States History 1815-1877, History of Medicine and Disability,
Advisors: Max Edelson, Elizabeth Varon, Barbra Wall
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
BA History with Highest Honors, Classical Studies, magna cum laude, May 2015
Publications
Pedagogical Material
Jan 2018 “Fostering an Inclusive Classroom: A Guide to Student Disabilities and Accommodations at the University of Virginia,” University of Virginia
Current Research
My dissertation, Incurable Defects: Welfare, Medicine, and the Disabled Body in Philadelphia, 1790-1840, reviews the contested nature of physical disability in early America. I argue that negotiations surrounding health care, tax reform, and the nature of physical impairment created a foundational basis for a disabled identity. Disabled people petitioned the government for financial support, demanding that they take the role of proxy patriarch when kin structures failed. Collusion between government officials and doctors fed into a system of medicine that prioritized high turnover rates, a phenomenon reflected in today’s system. My dissertation combines a quantitative study of over five thousand pension and medical records with qualitative evidence from doctors and citizens to provide a nuanced history of institutionalization. I explore the characters involved in health care reform across the early nineteenth century, reviewing the actions of medical professionals, government bodies, and disabled individuals. Disabled people sought to legitimize their physical capabilities, pursued therapeutic treatment, resisted institutionalization, and maintained lives as fully participatory citizens, family members, and workers. Their involvement in welfare reforms throughout the nineteenth century shaped the history of medicine and welfare in America.
Awards & Honors
2016 Summer Research and Travel Funding, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia
2016 Clio Fund for Graduate Research, University of Virginia
2017 Summer Language Funding, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia
Courses Taught
Teaching Assistant with Sections
Spring 2017 HIST 2212 Maps in World History, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia, Lectures by Max Edelson, 60 students
Fall 2017 HIUS 2212 Palestine 1948, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia, Lectures by James Loeffler, 60 students
Spring 2018 WGS 2100 Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Program, Lectures by Corinne Field, 60 students