Anna Rose Alexander , PhD Faculty Profile

Anna   Rose  Alexander , PhD

Associate Professor

Department of History

I am a first-generation student and an award-winning teacher specializing in Latin American urban and environmental history. I initially became interested in Latin America while earning a B.A. from CSU, Chico and later went on to receive a M.A. in Latin American Studies and Ph.D. in History from the University of Arizona. 
In 2016 the University of Pittsburgh Press published my first book entitled City on Fire: Technology, Social Change, and the Hazards of Progress in Mexico City, 1860-1910. I am currently working on a second book about a petroleum explosion that occurred outside of Mexico City in 1984 in San Juan Ixhautepec (San Juanico). 
I am a proud co-editor of Problems in Modern Latin American History 5th ed. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) that blends my love of teaching and scholarship. I teach courses about the Latin America, the history of sustainability, and publishing history. 
As an urban historian and member of the Bay Area, I am an advocate for affordable housing and consider housing a human right. I serve on the advisory board of the Bay Area Housing Internship Program and direct the My Housing Story project.

Urban environmental history, particularly fires and disaster, in Mexico City and Latin America.

  • Ph.D. History- University of Arizona (2012)
  • M.A. Latin American Studies- University of Arizona (2008)
  • B.A. History- California State University, Chico (2006)

Spring Semester 2023
Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
HIST 39301Revolutionary Thought Latin AmARRWEB-ASYNCHOnline Campus
HIST 39302Revolutionary Thought Latin AmARRWEB-ASYNCHOnline Campus
HIST 40201Intro to Public HistoryW4:30PM8:15PMVBT-0134Hayward Campus

Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations, 5th edition, edited by James A. Wood and Anna Rose Alexander (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2019)

City on Fire: Technology, Social Change, and the Hazards of Progress in Mexico City, 1860-1910, History of the Urban Environment (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016)

“One Fire, Two Songs: Óscar Chávez and El Tri Sing about the 1984 San Juanico Fire,” The Latin Americanist (December 2020): 377-392.

“The Problem of Fire and the American City,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History (September 2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.875

“My First-Generation Journey to History Professor,” in You Are Not Alone: Recipes to Obtain Success by Students for Students, edited by Lettie Ramirez (El Monte, CA: Velázquez Press, 2019). Awarded the International Latino Book Award.

“Careers for History Majors: Study the Past, Find your Future,” in You Are Not Alone: Recipes to Obtain Success by Students for Students, edited by Lettie Ramirez (El Monte, CA: Velázquez Press, 2019). Awarded the International Latino Book Award.

Amelia M. Kiddle y Anna Rose Alexander, “Historias de América Latina,” ISTOR año XVII, núm 67 (invierno de 2016): 3-12.

“Safety by Design: Engineers and Entrepreneurs Invent Fire Safety in Mexico City, 1860-1910.” Urban History 41, no. 3 (August 2014): 435-455.

“Incendiary Legislation: Fire Protection and Risk in Porfirian Puebla.” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 29, no. 1 (Winter 2013): 175-199.

Faculty Excellence Award, College of Letters Arts and Social Sciences, California State University, East Bay (2021)

Award of Distinction in Teaching, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Georgia Southern University (2015)