Barry Gaspar

Barry Gaspar is a Professor in the Department of History within Duke University's Arts & Sciences school, specializing in Atlantic World slavery systems. His research focuses on comparative slave societies with particular expertise in United States and Caribbean contexts, examining slave resistance, social control, and post-emancipation legacies.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. (1974) and M.A. (1972) from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. from the University of West Indies (1968). His scholarly contributions span legal history, gender studies, and colonial Caribbean social structures.

Gaspar's research centers on comparative slave systems, with signature works including Bondmen and Rebels: A Study of Master-Slave Relations in Antigua (Johns Hopkins University Press) and co-edited volumes like More than Chattel: Black Women and Slavery in the Americas (Indiana University Press). His current projects analyze transitions in slave revolt patterns across the Caribbean and North America, focusing on resistance strategies and evolving slave societies.

His 15 most recent publications (2001-2010) reveal consistent thematic concentration on slave resistance mechanisms, women's experiences in slavery, and Caribbean plantation societies. Key trends include analysis of manumission processes, internal slave economies, and transnational migration patterns among free and enslaved populations.

Gaspar teaches advanced courses including HISTORY 315S.01 (Emergence of Atlantic Basin) and HISTORY 318.01 (Caribbean 1492-1700), the latter cross-listed with African & African American Studies and Medieval/Renaissance Studies. His office is located in Classroom Building 306, Durham, NC.