History
Bio
Lexi Kadis is a summa cum laude graduate of Duke University in History with minors in Spanish and Psychology. As a recipient of the Deans' Summer Research Fellowship and the Anne Firor Scott Award, she had the opportunity to conduct archival research in women's history for her thesis in England and Scotland. At Duke, Lexi served as senior editor for The Chronicle, an undergraduate fellow of the MicroWorlds Lab, and a Story+ research fellow for the "Black Students Matter: Taking Over Allen in '69" exhibit. She also worked as an intern at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C., and studied abroad in Madrid. She hopes to continue to pursue her love of storytelling and passion for historical research.
Thesis
See full thesis: The Professional Formation of Isabella Bird: A Victorian Woman Travel Writer, 1831-1904
Faculty Advisor: Susan Thorne
Thesis Abstract
The life of Isabella Bird provides a counterexample to the essentialist conception of Victorian women travel writers as traveling to escape domesticity. Scholars of Victorian women’s history have traditionally emphasized the cult of domesticity and women’s confinement to the domestic sphere. As a result, women travel writers are portrayed by historians as rebels—in their solitary journeys far away from home as well as in their pursuit of professional careers. Both their travels and writing are presented as means to escape familial responsibilities and traditional gender roles. But Isabella’s story is not at all one of rebellion. Throughout her life, she remained deeply devoted to her family as well as her career. She was both an ambitious travel writer and, at the same time, a dutiful daughter, sister and wife. For Isabella, home and work were not distinct spheres, but rather interconnected spaces as her career was positively affected by her family relations.
