Dr. Robert Harms

Biography

Robert Harms received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978. He is the author of several significant works including 'River Wealth, River Sorrow: Central Zaire Basin Era Slave Ivory Trade' (1981), 'Games Nature: Eco-Cultural History of Nunu Equatorial Africa' (1988/1999), 'Diligent: Voyage of the Worlds Slave Trade' (2002), 'Africa Global History' (2018), and 'Land of Tears: Exploration and Exploitation in Equatorial Africa' (2019). He has taught graduate courses that include seminars on African environmental history, African agrarian history, colonialism in Africa, and decolonization. His notable book 'Diligent: Voyage of the Worlds Slave Trade' is based on the extraordinary journal of French lieutenant Robert Durand, who participated in the slave trade. His research can be seen in various historical contexts, and a sample entry from Lieutenant Durand’s journal is archived in Yale’s Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.

Research Interests