Associate Professor of History

B.A., Università degli Studi, Milan; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego

Profile

Originally from Italy, Dr. Alessandra Brivio earned her B.A. in Political Science from the Università Statale di Milano before moving to California where she earned a master’s degree in History and a Ph.D. in Early Modern History from the University of California, San Diego.

Brivio left the sunny shores of California in 2018 to join the faculty of the History and Political Science department at Erskine. In addition to courses in World Civilizations, Brivio regularly teaches courses in ancient Greek and Roman history, medieval history, Renaissance and Reformation, the Italian Renaissance, and the history of medicine and disease.

Brivio was awarded the Younts Excellence in Teaching Award in 2021 and the SCICU Excellence in Teaching award in 2024. She served as chair of the History and Political Science department 2021-24.

Research and Projects

Brivio’s research focuses on 17th century Milan and more particularly on biopolitics and popular responses during plague epidemics. She has conducted many years of archival research in Milanese archives and is currently working on a manuscript entitled “Between the Devil and the Holy Water: Plague Spreaders, Demonic Conspiracies, and the Intervention of Church and State During 17th century Plague Epidemic.” She regularly presents her research at national conferences in her field and is a member of the Renaissance Society of America.

Personal interests

Brivio lives in Due West with her husband, two children, and Dexter, her spoiled little dog. She loves the ocean, and during the summer she tries to spend as much time as possible on the beaches of Florida or southern Italy, where her parents have a beach house. She also loves to cook for her family and friends, and often invites students to her house to share a homemade Italian meal with her family and learn more about Italian culture and traditions.