Douglas B. Chambers

Associate Professor and Editor of The Southern Quarterly.
PhD, Virginia, 1996

Liberal Arts Building 406
601-266-5642
douglas.chambers@usm.edu

I study ‘Atlantic Africa’ in the era of the transatlantic slave trade, with a focus on the Igbo (Ibo) diaspora. My particular interests are in social and cultural history, including questions of creolization. Other interests include comparative slavery, cultural and social history in the early modern Atlantic world, and the colonial Chesapeake. Publications include Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia (2005) and numerous articles and book-chapters. I have been awarded research fellowships at the Smithsonian Institution, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Honors include a traditional Igbo chieftaincy, bestowed by the founding royal lineage of Nri, Nigeria, with the title Ife Umunna of Umunri (Obeagu).

I also serve as the editor of The Southern Quarterly, a learned journal founded at USM in 1962. My current research centers on the slave trade from the Bight of Biafra in West Africa, ca.1650-1850, and its intersection with the new Atlantic history. I teach courses in world history, African history, early African-American history, and the intellectual history of race. I also consult with several museums, including the International Museum of Muslim Cultures (Jackson, Miss.) and the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia (Staunton, Va.). On nice days, you can find me canoeing or riding my motorcycle.

Curriculum Vitae | Website

Department of History
http://www.usm.edu/history
601.266.4333 • history@usm.edu