Name: Lucio Antonio Bianchi
Year in program: 2
Primary supervisor: Dr. Walter Hawthorne
Major field: West Africa, Atlantic Trade in Enslaved People
Minor fields: Ancient Mediterranean, Modern East Africa, Modern Europe
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My research primarily centers on the Atlantic Trade in Enslaved People and its impacts on pre-colonial West African societies. More specifically, my dissertation, titled “A Great and Potent Kingdom: Denkyira Political Authority and Militarization in the era of Atlantic Trading, 1570-1720”, argues that the kingdom of Denkyira’s autocratic rule in the late 17th century should be linked to an earlier process of militarization, exacerbated by trading enslaved people.
Beyond my research in Africa, I analyze the presence of slavery in Ancient Mediterranean societies, as well as Black presence in Early Modern France and Europe