معرفی
Alison Clark Efford is an Associate Professor of History at Marquette University in the Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences. Her office is located in Sensenbrenner Hall, 303G, Milwaukee, WI, and she can be contacted at alison.efford@marquette.edu or (414) 288-7863. Dr. Efford is a historian specializing in immigration and nineteenth-century United States history, with particular expertise in German immigration, race, and citizenship during the Civil War era.
Dr. Efford's research interests include:
- Immigration history, particularly German immigration to the United States
- Race, citizenship, and power dynamics in the Civil War era
- The history of emotion and how social interactions shape embodied experiences
- Biocultural studies examining humans as "biocultural" beings
- Immigrant suicide as a window into immigrant suffering and politics
- Women's history, particularly strength sports and gender dynamics
Dr. Efford's scholarly trajectory demonstrates an evolution from examining German Americans' role in racial politics during the Civil War era to increasingly incorporating emotional history frameworks. Her first book, German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era (2013), established her expertise in how German Americans influenced white commitment to black rights. More recently, she has co-edited Radical Relationships (2021), exploring the correspondence of German American abolitionist Mathilde Franziska Anneke, and published work on women's empowerment through strength sports (2023). Her current project applies insights from the history of emotions to immigrant suicide, connecting intensely personal experiences of despair with public debates that contributed to immigration exclusion policies.
Dr. Efford has received recognition for her scholarly contributions:
- Teaching award from the College of Arts and Sciences
- Newsletter editor for the Immigration and Ethnic History Society
- Book review editor for H-Transnational German Studies
Dr. Efford actively engages with the community through partnerships with local schools for community-engaged learning and public-facing presentations on topics including Radical Relationships, community engaged learning, and refugee issues. She has produced several public-facing videos and audio presentations that translate her academic work for broader audiences, including commentary on Wisconsin's political history, presentations for Historic Milwaukee, and analysis of refugee experiences at the Haggerty Museum of Art.
