Alexandra Finley

Alexandra Finley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Pittsburgh, affiliated with the Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies Program. She holds a PhD (2017) and MA (2012) from the College of William & Mary, and a BA from The Ohio State University. Her research examines intersections of race, gender, and capitalism, with a focus on enslaved women’s labor and its role in US economic development.

Finley’s book An Intimate Economy (2020) explores enslaved women’s domestic and reproductive labor in the domestic slave trade. Her current project investigates the 1837 financial panic through a gendered lens. She teaches courses such as African American History I and Gender and Sexuality to 1865.

Her publications span academic journals and public-facing essays, including analysis of historical labor dynamics and contemporary gender inequities exposed by the pandemic. She is based at 3702 Posvar Hall, Pittsburgh, PA.