Dr. Kathryn Olivarius

Biography

Kathryn Meyer Olivarius is an Associate Professor in the History Department at Stanford University, specializing in the history of the nineteenth-century United States, particularly the antebellum South, the Greater Caribbean, slavery, capitalism, and disease. She received her BA in history from Yale University in 2011, followed by an MSt in History with distinction in 2013 and a DPhil in History in 2017, both from the University of Oxford. Olivarius was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Historical Research in London before joining Stanford's faculty. Her research investigates how epidemics, particularly yellow fever, impacted social structures in the Deep South, arguing that illness disrupted societal norms and created a distinct hierarchy based on acclimation status. Her forthcoming book, "Necropolis: Disease, Power, Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom", explores these themes in depth and argues for a new understanding of the relationships between race, capitalism, and human health in antebellum New Orleans. She has received several prestigious awards including the 2023 Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the Dan David Prize for her contributions to historical scholarship, and she is actively involved in teaching a diverse range of courses related to American history, race, and social structures.

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