Department of History
About
Alexander Clayton is a PhD candidate in History. His research and writing explore the fields of animal studies, science and technology studies, and environmental history.
His doctoral dissertation, "The Living Animal: Animating Nature in the Colonial Menagerie, 1750-1890" examines the trade, display, and influence of animal life in the long-nineteenth century Atlantic World. Displayed in an array of commercial, zoological, and circus menageries, this influx of vibrant and observable animal life marked a radical shift in ways of seeing, understanding, and organizing the world. The fragility and complexity of animal life necessitated an increasing dependence on Indigenous knowledge and labor, from enslaved Gambian children transported with lions for purposes of labor and exhibition to Bengali traders who captured and sold rhinoceros to European markets. Centering these contributions, "The Living Animal" explores how imperial powers attempted to manipulate living things as commodities and scientific objects, as well as the ways in which biting, thinking, and acting animals came to shape human systems of knowledge and governance.
Before arriving at Michigan, Alexander worked as Assistant Curator of Theatre and Performance at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. At Michigan, he has worked on digital humanities projects such as "Michigan in the World" (2020), coordinated the Science and Technology Studies interdisciplinary workshop (2019-2023), and served as History's Public Engagement and Professionalization Coordinator (2022) where he launched the department's Public Engagement Workshop Series.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
- “‘That ancient and modern wonder’: Giraffes, imperialism, and the making of the American menagerie, 1830-1840,” Atlantic Studies 21 (2024) [online; print issue forthcoming]. DOI:10.1080/14788810.2023.2240011
Awards
- 2023 — World History Association Graduate Student Paper Prize. Awarded for: "'That Ancient and Modern Wonder': Giraffes, Imperialism, and the Making of the American Menagerie, 1830–1840"
- 2022 — Notes and Records Essay Award, honorable mention, The Royal Society: Awarded for: "Going Together: Humans and Animals in Britain's Royal Menageries, 1750-1800"
- 2022 — Nathan Reingold Prize, History of Science Society. Awarded for: "Wisdom Grunts: Pigs, Philosophers, and other Demi-Rational Animals in Enlightenment London"
- 2020 — John Williams Prize for Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan
- 2017 — Clive Wainwright Memorial Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Royal College of Art
Non-Peer Reviewed Publications
- "Making a Menagerie: Following Animals in the 13th Earl of Derby Papers," American Philosophical Society Blog (Spring 2023). Available online.
- "Primary Sources through a Digital Lens: Reflections on Remote Teaching with the Clements Collections," The Quarto: The Clements Library Journal, No. 53 (Winter-Spring 2021), pp. 6-7. Available online.
- with Henry Cowles & Gregory Parker, "When Every Box is the Last Box," Collections: A Publication of the Bentley Historical Library (Winter 2021), pp. 26-27. Available online.
Selected Exhibitions
- Graduate Coordinator, Mental Health at Michigan, Michigan in the World (2020). Available Online.
- Assistant, Censored! Stage, Screen, and Society at 50, Victoria & Albert Museum (July 2018-January 2019). Archived Description.
Fellowships & Grants
- 2023-4 — Dissertation Fellow, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania
- 2023-4 — Friends of the APS Predoctoral Fellowship, American Philosophical Society [declined]
- 2023 – Data Visualization Fellowship, University of Michigan
- 2023-4 — Albert M. Greenfield Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Library Company of Philadelphia [declined]
- 2023-4 — Dissertation Fellow, Winterthur Library
- 2023-4 — Humanities Institute Dissertation Fellowship, University of Michigan [declined]
- 2023-4 — Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan [declined]
- 2023 — Lewis Walpole Library Research Grant, Yale University
- 2023 — Rackham International Research Award, University of Michigan
- 2023 — Weiser Center for Europe & Eurasia Summer Grant, University of Michigan
- 2022-4 — Eccles Centre Visiting Fellowship, British Library
- 2022 — François André Michaux Fellowship, American Philosophical Society
- 2022 — Albert J. Beveridge Research Grant, American Historical Association
- 2022 — Jay and Deborah Last Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society
- 2022 — Robert L. McNeil Jr. Fellowship, Historical Society of Pennsylvania & Library Company of Philadelphia
- 2022 — Beinecke Library Research Fellowship, Yale University
- 2022 — New England Regional Fellowship Consortium Research Fellowship
- 2022 — Winterthur Library Research Fellowship
- 2021-22 — Rackham Humanities Dissertation Fellowship, University of Michigan
- 2021-22 — Public Engagement and Professionalization Fellow, University of Michigan
- 2020 — Rackham International Student Fellowship, University of Michigan
- 2020 — Digital Instruction Fellowship, University of Michigan
- 2019-2020 — Graduate Student Liaison Fellow, Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, University of Michigan
- 2019 — Rackham Conference Travel Grant, University of Michigan
- 2016-18 — Friends of the V&A Scholarship, Royal College of Art and Victoria & Albert Museum
