Profile Information
Stephanie Hassell
Assistant Professor
Contact
Department of History
Office: Hardin 104
Email: stphanh@clemson.edu
Education
PhD, Stanford University (2014)
Courses
Slavery, Indian Ocean World
Research Interests
World History; Africa, 1500-1850; Empire; Slavery; Indian Ocean Studies; Religion
Professor Hassell was trained in African history at Stanford University, completing minor fields in Indian Ocean history and the African diaspora. Her research explores the intersection of slavery, religion, and empire in the Indian Ocean World. She is currently working on a book manuscript, Renegade Slaves: Religious Conversion, the Inquisition, and the Portuguese Empire in India in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Her work has been supported by the Social Science Research Council. At Clemson she teaches courses on slavery, African history, and the Indian Ocean. She previously taught at Wake Forest University and held a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University.
Selected Professional Works
Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Published)
“Religious Identity and Imperial Security: Arming Catholic Slaves in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-century Portuguese India,” Journal of Early Modern History 26, no. 5 (2022): 403-428.
“Inquisition Records from Goa as Sources for the Study of Slavery in the Eastern Domains of the Portuguese Empire,” History in Africa, 42 (2015), 397-418.
Conference Presentations (Delivered)
Panelist, Labor and Mobility Roundtable, The Indian Ocean World: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead (virtual conference), January 28-30, 2021, https://iowconference.org/
“The Portuguese Inquisition, State Building, and Mobility in India in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A View from Below,” Forum on European Expansion and Global Interaction Biennial Meeting, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, February 14-15, 2020
“Slavery, Households, and Belonging in the Portuguese Empire in India, 16th and 17th Centuries,” African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Boston, November 21-23, 2019
“The Portuguese Inquisition, State Building, and Mobility in India in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A View from Below,” History Department Seminar, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, March 19, 2018
“Captive Converts: Slavery and Mobility in the Portuguese Empire in the Seventeenth-century Western Indian Ocean,” African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, November 16-18, 2017
“Slavery, Religious Identity, and the Portuguese Imperial Project in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth- century India,” Slavery and Forced Labour in Asia, c. 1250-c. 1900: Continuities and Transformations in Comparative Perspective, 2nd Leiden Slavery Studies Association Biennial ‘Slaving Zones’ Conference, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, June 1-3, 2017
“Captive Converts: Slavery and Mobility in the Portuguese Empire in the Seventeenth-century Western Indian Ocean,” African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, November 16-18, 2017
“Beyond the Numbers: The Slave Trade from East Africa to Portuguese India,” The Iberian Slave Trade: A Global Perspective, Workshop, Brown University, Providence, RI, May 13, 2016
“Territorial Identities in Portuguese India: Slavery and Religious Landscapes in the Sixteenth Century,” Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies Annual Meeting, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, March 19-22, 2015
