Thomas D. Rogers, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Garinger 137
704 687-4777

Dr. Thomas D. Rogers is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and a core faculty member in the Latin American Studies Program.  A specialist in 20th century Brazilian history, he has completed a book manuscript titled The Deepest Wounds:  The Laboring Landscapes of Northeast Brazil, examining sugar workers and their environment in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco.  The thematic emphases of his work inlcude labor, racial identities and ideologies, and the environment.

He is a member of the Mu Chapter of Phi Beta Delta (Honor Society for International Scholars).

Education:
• Ph.D., Duke University
• M.A., Duke University
• B.A., Williams College

Areas of Interest:
• Modern Latin American History
• Brazil and the Caribbean
• Histories of race, labor, and the environment

Recent Publications:
“Jose Lins do Rego's O Moleque Ricardo, contribution to feature "My Favorite Labor Novel," Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas 4, no. 4 (2007): 26-27.

“‘I choose this means to be with you always’: Getúlio Vargas’s Carta Testamento,” in Jens Hentschke, ed. Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

“Bustamante the Lonely Fighter: Loyalty, Justice, and Race in the Discourse of a Jamaican Populist,” Contours: A Journal of the African Diaspora 3, no. 1 (2005): 48-78.

Current Projects:

I am beginning research for a book project that examines the first major sugar cane ethanol boom in Brazil, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Brazil has earned worldwide attention in the 2000s for its large ethanol industry, considered a model for other countries seeking alternatives to fossil fuels. Though sugar cane appears far more efficient than corn as a raw material for ethanol, the impacts of production extend beyond the question of inputs and energy savings. By looking at the previous boom in the 70s and 80s (over 75% of new cars in Brazil ran on ethanol in 1986), perhaps we can learn lessons about the impacts of expanded sugar cane agriculture on workers and the environment. I will be in Brazil during the spring of 2010, carrying out research on these issues and teaching environmental history.

Courses Taught:
• AFRS 1100 - Introduction to Africana Studies
• AFRS 3278 - Race in the History of Brazil
• AFRS 3270 - Afro-Latin American History
• AFRS 3280 - The Caribbean from Slavery to Independence
• LTAM 1100 - Introduction to Latin American Studies
• LTAM 4600/LTAM 5600/HIST 4002/HIST 5002 - Senior Seminar in Latin American
Studies: Understanding Race and Ethnicity in Latin America