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Kathryn Olivarius

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Kathryn Olivarius (born 1989) is an American historian. Olivarius currently serves as an Associate Professor of History at Stanford University, where she has taught since 2017. [1] Her research covers the 19th century United States, with a focus on the antebellum South, Caribbean, slavery, capitalism, and disease. Prior, she was a postdoctoral fellow the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.[2]

She received a B.A. in History from Yale University and a Masters and PhD. in U.S. History from the University of Oxford.[3] At Yale, she was a frequent columnist for the Yale Daily News, the student newspaper. [4]

Research

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Olivarius is mostly known for her 2020 book Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom, which won her both international and national prizes such as the Dan David Prize, the world's largest (by prize amount) academic history award.[5] [6] [7] In Necropolis, Olivarius examines how yellow fever shaped life in antebellum New Orleans.[8] As part of her work, Olivarius has been credited with inventing the concept of "immunocapital,"[9] [10] whereby attaining immunity to a given disease confers social, economic, and political advantages, in some cases reinforcing existing racial and class hierarchies. In antebellum New Orleans, wealthy elites used this immunity to maintain their dominance, as politicians resisted public health measures, arguing that acclimation through exposure was necessary for the working class. [11]

In an April 2020 New York Times article, Olivarius critiques a proposal from conservative outlet The Federalist that advocated for young, healthy Americans to intentionally contract COVID-19 to build "herd immunity" and revive the economy. Drawing parallels to the yellow fever epidemics of 19th-century New Orleans, Olivarius warned that a similar dynamic could unfold with COVID-19, cautioning against allowing immunity to become a marker of privilege and deepen existing inequalities, particularly in employment and access to resources, as pandemics historically worsen social divides. [12]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "CDTS Speaker Series: Professor Kathryn Olivarius, Stanford University | Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies". www.cdts.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  2. ^ "RAI's Dr Kathryn Olivarius appointed Assistant Professor in Nineteenth-Century U.S. History at Stanford University". www.rai.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  3. ^ "RAI's Kathryn Olivarius awarded Past and Present Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research". www.rai.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  4. ^ "Olivarius: Penicillin and condoms". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  5. ^ a b "DAN DAVID PRIZE, WORLD'S LARGEST HISTORY PRIZE, ANNOUNCES 2024 WINNERS". Dan David Prize. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  6. ^ a b "2023 CONFERENCE ON AMERICAN HISTORY" (PDF). Organization of American Historians. 2023. Retrieved 21 Oct 2024.
  7. ^ a b "AHA Prize in American History – AHA". www.historians.org/. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  8. ^ "How Did New Orleans Become New Orleans? (Part Two) with Dr. Kathryn Olivarius". Earwolf. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  9. ^ Witt, John Fabian (2021). American Contagions: Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to COVID-19. New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-300-25777-9.
  10. ^ Jegathesan, Mythri; Amrute, Sareeta (December 2022). "Introduction to the Special Issue: Immunocapital and Capitalist Immunities". Anthropology of Work Review. 43 (2): 68–71. doi:10.1111/awr.12245. ISSN 0883-024X.
  11. ^ "Colby on Olivarius, 'Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom' | H-Net". networks.h-net.org. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  12. ^ Olivarius, Kathryn (April 2020). "The Dangerous History of Immunoprivilege". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 Oct 2024.
  13. ^ "Francis B. Simkins Award". www.thesha.org. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
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