Jeffrey D. Needell

Jeffrey D. Needell is a Professor of History and Affiliate Professor of Latin American Studies in the Department of History at the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where he has taught since 1987 after prior positions at the University of Oregon and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Latin American and European cultural history, Stanford University, 1982
• M.A. in Latin American and colonial African history, Yale University, 1977
• A.B. in History, University of California at Berkeley, 1974

A leading historian of Brazil, Needell's research examines urban cultural history, intellectual history, and political history with deep focus on the Brazilian monarchy, slavery systems, abolitionist movements (1879-1888), and Afro-Brazilian political mobilization in 19th-century Rio de Janeiro. His influential publications include A Tropical Belle Epoque (1987), The Party of Order (2006), and The Sacred Cause (2020).

Scientific Awards:

• Warren Dean Memorial Prize from the Conference for Latin American History for The Party of Order
• Roberto Reis Book Award from the Brazilian Studies Association for The Party of Order

His research has received sustained support from Fulbright-Hays, the Social Science Research Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Philosophical Society. Needell teaches undergraduate courses on Latin American history after 1750, Brazil, and Amazonia, alongside the graduate seminar on Brazilian historiography.