Dr. McDaniel is a graduate of Wofford college and received her Ph. D. in History and her certificate in Women's Studies from Emory University. Her specialized research interests include women in the 19th century American South, educational history, gender issues, social history, intellectual history, and textile history. She has taught at ASU for the past eight years. Her courses have included History and Society, History and Culture, American history surveys, North Carolina history, and three FYS courses: "Where Did You Get That Tee Shirt," "What if Harry Potter Is Real," and "Steampunk Civilizations." This past spring she taught "Bathing Beauties and Muscled Men: Perceptions of Fitness in the United States, 1845-1945." In the fall, she will be offering a new first year seminar, "How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci." Before coming to ASU, she taught at Auburn University and Southern Union Community College. She is currently working on a book project dealing with the intersections of race, class, gender, disability, and school desegregation in South Carolina in the 1960s-1970s.
Dr. McDaniel's interest in history and women's work connects to her hobbies of fiber art, quilting, drawing, and poetry. At one point, she was the seamstress for an academic theatre department and continues to study cosplay garments and Victorian fashion. She is obsessed with Scrabble.