Assistant Professor of History

Background

Originally from Northern Ireland, John Harris earned B.A. and M.A. degrees at Queen’s University Belfast before immigrating to the United States and completing a Ph.D. in history at Johns Hopkins University. He teaches American and World History classes and currently serves as chair of the History and Political Science Department.

Research and Publications

Dr. Harris researches U.S. connections to the wider world in the nineteenth century. His first book, The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage, was published by Yale University Press in 2020. He has also published an article on financing illegal slaving voyages in the Journal of Global History, and created a digital exhibit on the slave trade that has been widely used in classrooms.

The Last Slave Ships – Dr. John Harris