Stuart B. Schwartz

Stuart B. Schwartz is the George Burton Adams Professor of History at Yale University, where he has taught since 1996. He is a leading scholar in colonial Latin American history, with a focus on Brazil, the Portuguese Empire, and the Caribbean. His work bridges ethnohistory, anthropology, religious studies, and environmental history.

Research Interests: His primary scholarly interests include Colonial Latin America, Brazilian history, the Caribbean, the Portuguese Empire, ethnohistory, anthropology, history of religion, slavery, Native American history, and world history. His work explores the intersections of empire, culture, and society, particularly in colonial settings.

Publications and Research Trends: Professor Schwartz has authored or edited 19 books and over 100 articles. His recent works reflect a growing interest in environmental history and the interplay between natural disasters and political power, as seen in Sea of Storms. Earlier works focused on legal institutions, plantation economies, and religious thought in colonial Brazil, showing a consistent engagement with social and cultural structures under imperial rule.

• Comendador da Ordem do Cruzeiro do Sul
• Inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2012)
• Four honorary doctorates
• Honorary citizenship from Salvador, Bahia
• Bolton Prize (three-time winner)
• Cundill Award
• Gustav Ranis Award
• Guggenheim Fellowship

Advising and Grants: While specific students are not listed, Professor Schwartz has supervised numerous graduate students in Latin American history. He has received major fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Gulbenkian Foundation. He served as co-editor of the Hispanic American Historical Review (1996–2001) and currently sits on the editorial boards of thirteen professional journals across eight countries, reflecting his extensive influence and collaborative networks.

Labs and Teams: Though not associated with a formal lab, Professor Schwartz has led major collaborative projects, including co-editing the South American volumes of the Cambridge History of Native American Peoples (2000), and working with international scholars across Europe and Latin America. His editorial roles and visiting professorships indicate sustained engagement with global academic teams.