John Harris

John Harris is the McDonald-Boswell Associate Professor of History at Erskine College. Originally from Northern Ireland, he holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queen’s University Belfast and a Ph.D. in History from Johns Hopkins University. Appointed McDonald-Boswell Chair in History in 2021, he specializes in U.S. connections to the global 19th-century world, focusing on the transatlantic slave trade. His research includes the financing of illegal slaving voyages and the end of the Middle Passage.

Education:

• B.A., Queen’s University Belfast
• M.A., Queen’s University Belfast
• Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University

His book The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage (Yale University Press, 2020) won the Victorian Society, New York’s Book of the Year (2020). He has also published in Journal of Global History, written op-eds for Smithsonian Magazine, History.com, and The Washington Post, and created a widely used digital exhibit on the slave trade.

Awards:

• Victorian Society, New York Book of the Year (2020)

His work bridges historical research with public engagement, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to slavery’s global impact.