Claire Strom, PhD
Professor of History
Claire Strom offers a wide range of academic and administrative experiences. Over the past two decades, she has worked in a variety of higher education institutions, including two Research I universities, a two-year satellite school, and a small liberal arts college. She has been a productive scholar, writing several books, publishing numerous articles, and editing the premier international journal in her field. Simultaneously, she has been consistently active in academic administration. She has considerable familiarity with faculty and staff review; effective assessment; curricular and strategic planning; high-impact practice development; grant writing; and fundraising. Her experiences have given her a strong understanding of the key trends in education nationally and internationally; an appreciation of shared governance; and a commitment to diversity, access, and inclusion.
Strom’s research is wide-ranging. Trained as an agricultural historian, she has also written on public health, World War II on the homefront, the history of food banking, African American history, local history, and pedagogy. She is currently working on projects addressing Confederate memorials, historical empathy, and cattle in Africa.
Education
PhD, Iowa State University
Areas of Specialization: Agricultural history, the American South, and the progressive era
Courses Taught
HIS 120 Decade of Decision
Explore the politics, power, and betrayal that define Caesar’s Rome through a combination of writing, research, and role play.
HIS125 History of a City: New Orleans
HIS 311 History of American Sexuality
Examine societal attitudes toward premarital and teen sex, gendered sexual pleasure, prostitution, abortion, contraception, eugenics, pregnancy, and other sexual issues.
Publications
Books
With Rachel Walton, Rollins College (Arcadia Press, 2024).
With Annabel Tudor, eds. Using Diverse Primary Resources to Research US History (Agricultural History Society, 2018).
With Jim Norris et al., Images of Modern America: Winter Park (Arcadia Press, 2015).
With Jim Norris et al., Images of America: Winter Park (Arcadia Press, 2015).
Making Catfish Bait Out of Government Boys: The Fight Against Cattle Ticks and the Transformation of the Yeoman South (University of Georgia Press, 2009).
Profiting from the Plains: The Great Northern Railway and Corporate Development of the American West (University of Washington Press, 2003).
With David Danbom, Fargo: North Dakota (Arcadia Press, 2002).
Recent Articles
“Combatting Hunger,” in Empty Plates: The Evolution of Hunger Relief until All are Fed by Dave Krepcho (Storytellers Publishing, 2024).
“A History of Livestock and People,” Oxford Handbook of World Agriculture, ed. Jeannie Whayne (University of Oxford Press, 2024).
With Phoebe Strom, Rachel Walton, and Hannah Ewing, “Primary Source Knowledge Acquisition through Recursive Assignments: A Case Study,” The History Teacher, 56:4 (August 2023).
With Rachel Walton, “History Researchers as Digital Curators in the Archives: Incorporating Metaliteracy Learning Goals into a History Capstone Digital Humanities Project,” in Undergraduate Research and the Academic Librarian: Case Studies & Best Practice, Volume 2, ed. Merinda Kaye Hensley, Stephanie Davis-Kahl, and Hailley M. Fargo (ACRL, 2023).
“Wilderness from the Water,” in The Wilder Heart of Florida: More Writers Inspired by Florida Nature, ed. Leslie Poole and Jack Davis (University Press of Florida, 2021).
With Rachel Walton, “Engaging History Majors in Intensive Archival Research: Assessing Scaffolded Curricula for Teaching Undergraduates Primary Source Literacy Skills,” Case Studies on Teaching with Primary Sources, Case #16, Society of American Archivists, September 2020, https://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/TWPSCase_16_Engaging_History_Majors.pdf.
“Extraordinary Powers: Controlling Syphilis in Wartime Florida,” in Sex and Sexuality in Modern Southern Culture, ed. Trent Brown (Louisiana State University Press, 2017).
Professional Organizations
Southern Association of Women’s Historians
Southern Historical Association
Agricultural History Society
Awards and Honors
Gladys Baker Lifetime Achievement Award, Agricultural History Society, 2021.
Presidential Award for Diversity and Inclusion, Rollins College, 2021.
George Holt Award for Faculty of the Year, X Club Fraternity, Rollins College, 2019.
Cornell Distinguished Service Award, Rollins College, 2015.
Arthur Vining Davis Award for faculty excellence, Rollins College, 2013.
News & Features
March 19, 2024
Strom Publishes Book on History of Hunger Relief
History professor Claire Strom has co-written a new book on the national hunger relief movement alongside Dave Krepcho, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.
September 30, 2023
Rollins Celebrates LGBT History Month
Rollins honors the lives and contributions of LGBTQ+ people and offers opportunities for education, engagement, and celebration.
August 04, 2021
Rollins Faculty and Alumni Contribute to The Wilder Heart of Florida
Rollins faculty and alumni contribute work to The Wilder Heart of Florida: More Writers Inspired by Florida Nature.
June 28, 2021
Strom Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from the Agricultural History Society
The Agricultural History Society honors history professor Claire Strom with a lifetime achievement award for her prolific and enduring contributions to the field.
June 16, 2021
Prideful Preservation
Vibrant, safe spaces for local queer communities are the focus of work in which Rollins students curate history exhibits from start to finish.
February 11, 2019
Cool Class: Researching American History
Rollins students explore the history of diversity and inclusion in education and at Rollins through the Pathways to Diversity grant.