Ken Homan is an assistant professor at Saint Louis University. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri, and has been a member since 2023.
Ken Homan
Social Media: @BroKenWoodworking on Instagram; @KenHomanSJ on Bluesky
Alma maters: BA, Fordham University, 2014; MA, Fordham University, 2015; MTS, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, 2020; PhD, Georgetown University, 2025
Fields of interest: labor, Catholicism, religion, racial justice, public, urban
Describe your career path. What led you to where you are today?
My career path is a bit odd because of my life as a Jesuit. Our training takes about 10 years and includes some required stops and some that are more flexible. I was able to use the more flexible summers to pursue work that I am passionate about. I spent one summer as a US Forest Service interpretive ranger intern redesigning the visitor center display and creating a human history handbook for future rangers. I spent another summer assisting on an archeological dig at the plantation where my Jesuit predecessors had enslaved people (see the Georgetown 272 history). All of this led me today to historical work that is highly personal in trying to create a more just world.
How have your historical interests evolved across your career?
My interests have always been rooted in understanding identity and the pursuit of justice. Precisely how to go about that, however, has changed significantly across different projects and jobs. For example, as a young labor activist, my interest was in the emergence of sweatshops. The more I learned about labor history, however, the more I realized I needed to be invested in US labor history and organizing as well.
What projects are you currently working on?
Having just completed my doctorate about Jesuits and labor history in St. Louis, I am moving into several branches of that research: a journal article about the history of labor law education at Jesuit institutions; a journal article about the history of union organizing in Catholic primary schools; and a book chapter about St. Louis’s role in economic, labor, and social transitions.
I am also developing history courses, including a new course called History Matters and redesigning a course on St. Louis history that will highlight labor and racial justice movements.
In addition to the more strictly academic or research efforts, I am working on a collaborative to increase labor solidarity across Catholic and Jesuit higher ed campuses.
What is your favorite historical site to visit?
Any kind of public lands, especially those with connection to local history—national and city parks, tribal lands and visitor centers. It’s a tremendous gift and vitally important to make history publicly accessible and educational.
What’s the most fascinating thing you’ve ever found at the archives or while doing research?
What I thought was a waffle iron was in fact a press for making very elaborate communion wafers.
Who in your life served as a teacher or mentor and influenced your understanding of history?
Two of my greatest mentors have been the brothers Jim and Joe McCartin. Dr. Jim McCartin is a Catholic and religious historian at Fordham and Dr. Joe McCartin is a labor historian at Georgetown. They wrote an important essay in Labor about the need for better histories exploring both Catholic and laboring identities. I reached out to them to thank them for the piece and they have been both official and unofficial mentors ever since.
AHA members are involved in all fields of history, with wide-ranging specializations, interests, and areas of employment. To recognize our talented and eclectic membership, Perspectives Daily features a regular AHA Member Spotlight series.
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