J Schermerhorn
Professor,
School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
Other ASU affiliations
Instructor,
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
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Phone: 480-965-5778
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Coor Hall 4572 975 S. Myrtle Ave. Box 874302 Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287-4302
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Mail code: 4302Campus: Tempe
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Long Bio
Calvin Schermerhorn grew up in Southern Maryland. After graduate degrees at Harvard Divinity School and the University of Virginia he became a historian of slavery, capitalism, and African American inequality. He teaches courses in nineteenth-century American history and advises Honors, Masters, and PhD students. He was a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Nottingham in 2022. He has contributed to The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Time and The Washington Post, among other popular venues, and his work has been featured in national discussions of racial inequality. He is author of four books on American slavery and inequality including The Plunder of Black America: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Made, which will be published by Yale University Press in 2025.
Education
- Ph.D. University of Virginia
- M.T.S. Harvard Divinity School
- B.A. Saint Mary's College of Maryland
Research Interests
African American history, slavery, capitalism, U.S. South, public history, human trafficking in America and the Atlantic world
Courses
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 109 | United States to 1865 |
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 306 | Studies in US History |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 591 | Seminar |
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 598 | Special Topics |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 109 | United States to 1865 |
| HST 130 | The Historian's Craft |
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 591 | Seminar |
| HST 641 | North American History |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 109 | United States to 1865 |
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 790 | Reading and Conference |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 591 | Seminar |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 495 | Methods of Historical Inquiry |
| HST 591 | Seminar |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 493 | Honors Thesis |
2020 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 493 | Honors Thesis |
| HST 493 | Honors Thesis |
| HST 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2019 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| HST 591 | Seminar |
| HST 494 | Special Topics |
| HST 792 | Research |
| HST 799 | Dissertation |
| HST 492 | Honors Directed Study |
Service
- We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, Corona del Sol High School, Judge (2014 - Present)
- Graduate Committee, History, SHPRS, Member (2014 - Present)
- Doctoral Exam Committee, Examiner (2013 - Present)
- Search Committee, Modern United States Political History, Member (2012 - Present)
- We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, Corona del Sol High School, Judge (2012 - Present)
- History Faculty Promotion and Tenure Policy Committee, Member (2012 - Present)
- Road to Disunion: The Geopolitics of Slavery, Political Crisis, and the Onset of Civil War" American History from A to Z, Presidential Engagement Program, ASU Foundation for a New American University., Invited Speaker (2012 - Present)
- "The South, Slavery, and the Rise of King Cotton," Aspire Academy at Connolly Middle School, Tempe, Arizona., Invited Speaker (2012 - Present)
- Journal of the Early Republic, Reviewer (2012 - Present)
- American Nineteenth Century History, Reviewer (2012 - Present)
- Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching Award Committee, Member (2012 - Present)
- Roger Adelson Graduate Research Award Committee, Chair (2012 - Present)
- Ohio University Press, Manuscript Review (2012 - Present)
- The Public Historian, Peer Reviewer (2010 - Present)
- Committee to Establish a Graduate Field in Global and World History, Member (2008 - Present)
- Committee to establish a Graduate Certificate in Global and World History, Member (2008 - Present)
- Committee to establish a Graduate Certificate in Global and World History, Member (2008 - Present)
- History Department Graduate Committee to establish a graduate field in global and world history, Member (2008 - Present)
- Undergraduate Policy Committee, History Department, Member (2008 - Present)
- Oxford University Press, Outside Reviewer and Reader (2008 - Present)
- Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Editorial Board Member (2014 - 2016)
- Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ark Media for PBS, Professional Historical Consulatant (2014 - 2014)
- Routledge, Manuscript Reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Carol & Norris Hundley Award Committee, Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, Chair (2014 - 2014)
- Personnel Advisory Committee (PAC), Member (2014 - 2014)
- Doctoral Exam Committee, History, SHPRS, Examiner (2013 - 2014)
- Carol and Norris Hundley Award Committee, Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association, Member (2012 - 2014)
- Journal of Southern History, Peer reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Journal of Policy History, Peer reviewer (2013 - 2014)
- University of Georgia Press, Manuscript Review (2013 - 2013)
- Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Peer Reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- University Senate, Senator (2011 - 2013)
- Carol & Norris Hundley Award Committee, Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, Chair (2013 - 2013)
- History Faculty Promotion and Tenure Policy Committee, Member (2012 - 2013)
- History Faculty Promotion and Tenure Policy Committee, Member (2012 - 2013)
- Search Committee, Modern United States Political History, Member (2012 - 2013)
- Ad Hoc Promotion and Tenure Committee, Member (2011 - 2011)
- Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, Reviewer (2011 - 2011)
- CQ Press/SAGE, Anonymous Outside Reader (2010 - 2010)
- Personnel Advisory Committee, Member (2009 - 2010)
- Oxford University Press, Anonymous Outside Reader (2008 - 2009)