معرفی
Seth Rockman holds the prestigious George L. Littlefield Professor of American History position at Brown University, where he also serves as the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of History. His academic journey began with a BA from Columbia University in 1993 and culminated with a PhD from the University of California, Davis in 1999.
Rockman's research explores the complex intersections of slavery studies, labor history, material culture studies, and the history of capitalism in early America. His work examines how race, sex, nativity, and legal status determined opportunities and vulnerabilities of working families in the post-Revolutionary United States. His award-winning book Scraping By: Wage Labor, Slavery, and Survival in Early Baltimore (2009) and the co-edited volume Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development (2016) fundamentally reshaped understanding of the relationship between slavery and capitalism. His 2024 book, Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Philip Taft Labor History Book Award.
Rockman's scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on material culture, labor systems, and the economic foundations of American slavery. His recent work has expanded into the relationship between labor history and the history of science, demonstrating his interdisciplinary approach. His publications trace an evolving methodology that increasingly connects material objects to broader economic systems, while maintaining critical attention to the lived experiences of enslaved and free laborers.
- Philip Taft Labor History Book Award (for Plantation Goods)
- Merle Curti Prize in Social History (2010)
- H.L. Mitchell Prize, Southern Historical Association (2010)
- Gordon Cain Fellow, Science History Institute (2021-22)
- William G. McLaughlin Award for Excellence in Teaching (2015)
Rockman has supervised undergraduate research for the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice and has received multiple prestigious fellowships including the Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies and research fellowships from the Gilder Lehrman Center and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His teaching portfolio includes graduate seminars on the global history of capitalism and undergraduate courses on the American Revolution, Early Republic, and specialized topics like "A Textile History of Atlantic Slavery" and "The Problem of Class in Early America."
Rockman has been instrumental in Brown University's engagement with its historical connections to slavery, contributing significantly to the university's Slavery and Justice Report. His current work continues to explore the material dimensions of slavery and capitalism while expanding into the relationship between scientific knowledge production and labor systems.
