Dr. Cecilia Gowdy-Wygant currently serves as the Lead Faculty for the History and Women and Gender Studies programs at Front Range College in Westminster, Colorado, and is an Affiliate Faculty member in both the History and Women’s and Gender Studies departments at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Gowdy-Wygant’s interest in Irish Studies stems from a deep interest in the intersections of environment, gender, and nationalism. How these three influences appear in the culture of diasporic communities is a recurring theme in Gowdy-Wygant’s work. Current research and academic work examines the presence of the themes of nature and gender within the popular music of Irish American culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. This work examines the gendered lens of the American music business that capitalized on the Irish immigrant experience in popular musical entertainment, as well as the cultural legacies that business left in the identities of Americans of Irish ancestry.

Gowdy-Wygant’s book, “Cultivating Victory: The Women’s Land Army and Victory Garden Movements”, is an analysis of international efforts to increase food production during the world wars and the cultural legacy of that work within Britain, the United States, and other areas of the British diaspora. Gowdy-Wygant served as historian and screenwriter for the award-winning documentary, “Women Warriors: A Vision of Valor”, as part of the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress.

Gowdy-Wygant is a frequent contributor to the field of history. In addition to presenting at various conferences and regional historical societies, Gowdy-Wygant has publications in the Encyclopedia of American Environmental History, the Encyclopedia of American Women’s History, the Journal of British Studies, Environmental History, Environmental Studies and Science, among others.