Marika Cifor is an American

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

and feminist academic known for her work in

archival science Archival science, or archival studies, is the study and theory of building and Curator, curating archives, which are collections of documents, Sound recording and reproduction, recordings, photographs and various other materials in physical or di ...

library science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

, and digital studies. Her research focuses on

community archives Community archives are archives created or accumulated, described, and/or preserved by individuals and community groups who desire to document their cultural heritage based on shared experiences, interests, and/or identities, sometimes without the t ...

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

affect theory Affect theory is a theory that seeks to organize affects, sometimes used interchangeably with emotions or subjectively experienced feelings, into discrete categories and to typify their physiological, social, interpersonal, and internalized manife ...

, and approaches to archival practice rooted in

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. She is an associate professor at the

University of Washington Information School The Information School (abbreviated as iSchool) is the information school of the University of Washington, a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Formerly the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences since 1984, the Infor ...

. She also holds an adjunct faculty appointment in UW's Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies department.

Career

Cifor completed a BA in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

, a dual MA in history and MLIS from

Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer John Simmons. In 2018, it reorganized its structure and changed its name to a ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in information studies with graduate certificates in

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

and

digital humanities Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or Information technology, digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanitie ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. While a doctoral student, Cifor was a member of the UCLA Community Archives Lab directed by Michelle Caswell, who was her doctoral advisor. Following her PhD studies, Cifor was appointed as a Consortium for Faculty Diversity postdoctoral fellow with the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program at

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

. In fall 2018, she was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Information and Library Science at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. In fall 2019, she became an assistant professor at the

. Cifor teaches courses related to archival theory and practice and gender, race, and technology with a focus on

and

. She is a founder and core faculty member of the school's AfterLab and an affiliate of its Technology and Social Change Group and DataLab. In addition, Cifor serves on the editorial boards of ''Australian Feminist Studies'' and the Homosaurus Linked Data Vocabulary. Cifor's 2022 book ''Viral Cultures: Activist Archiving in the Age of AIDS'' examined the archives and legacy of

HIV/AIDS activism Activism, Socio-political activism to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS as well as to advance the Management of HIV/AIDS, effective treatment and care of people with AIDS (PWAs) has taken place in multiple locations since the 1980s. The evolution o ...

. ''Viral Cultures'' was named one of nine books by which to better understand health, illness, and viruses in a June 2022 article in ''The Atlantic'' by Joseph Osmundson. In 2017, she was awarded the SAA's Fellows' Ernst Posner Award with co-authors Michelle Caswell and Mario H. Ramirez for their article "To Suddenly Discover Yourself Existing: Uncovering the Impact of Community Archives". Cifor co-edited a special issue of ''First Monday'' on AIDS in 2020 with Cait McKinney, of ''Archival Science'' on affect in 2016 with

Anne J. Gilliland Anne Jervois Gilliland (born 1959) is an archivist, scholar, and professor in the field of archival studies. She is currently Director of the Center for Information as Evidence at the University of California, Los Angeles Graduate School of Educat ...

, and of the ''Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies'' on

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

in 2019 with Jamie A. Lee. While she was at

, she co-created the collaborative digital humanities project on

race film The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for African American, black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race ...

"Early African American Film: Reconstructing the History of Silent Race Films, 1909-1930", which received an honorable mention for the 2016 Garfinkel Prize in Digital Humanities from the

American Studies Association The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture, U.S. culture and American history, history. It was founded in 1951 and claims to be the oldest scholarly organization d ...

Select publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cifor, Marika American archivists American women archivists Living people University of Washington faculty Mills College alumni Simmons University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni 1986 births 21st-century American women academics