Edward Alpers
VerifiedUniversity of California, Los Angeles · History
Active 1965–2024
About
Edward Alpers is a Research Professor in the UCLA Department of History. His academic focus is on eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean world, with particular attention to the political economy of international trade in precolonial eastern Africa and the cultural dimensions of these exchange systems within the broader context of the Indian Ocean. Alpers studied African History at Harvard College and earned his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 1966, where he studied under Richard Gray. Before joining UCLA in 1968, he taught at the University of Dar es Salaam and conducted research in eastern Tanzania, as well as teaching at the Somali National University as a Fulbright Senior Scholar. Throughout his career, Alpers has contributed significantly to the field of African and Indian Ocean history, serving as President of the African Studies Association in 1994 and chairing its National Program Committee in 2001. His research and publications explore maritime history, the political and economic interactions across the Indian Ocean, and the history of slavery, piracy, and regional networks in East African waters. He has served as chair for sixty-two Ph.D. dissertations at UCLA and authored several books and articles that examine the historical dynamics of the Indian Ocean region, emphasizing its global interconnectedness and cultural exchanges.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Computer Science
- Sociology
- Ancient history
- Data science
- Archaeology
- Linguistics
- History
- Genealogy
- Ethnology
- Law
- Geography
- Anthropology
Selected publications
2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingTen Teaching Technologies: Research Projects for Student Engagement
2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingMonsoon · 2024-11-01
article1st authorCorrespondingAbstract This article explores the complex process involving a wide variety of historical actors in the acclimatization of vanilla and cloves in the western Indian Ocean during the long nineteenth century. Imperial rivalries and monopolistic control of these two crops provide the historical context in which the acquired plant knowledge of enslaved laborers in the Mascarene Islands was exercised. Ranging from the Maluku Islands, in eastern Indonesia, and from Mexico to Europe, the argument centers on French colonial Mauritius and Réunion, and imperial Omani Zanzibar.
2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingNine Teaching Technologies: Some Classroom Strategies
2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingIntroduction. Initial Thoughts
2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding2024-04-23
book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding2024-04-23
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
Frequent coauthors
- 300 shared
Roland Abiodun
University of Florida
- 300 shared
Cheryl Johnson-Odim
Dominican University
- 300 shared
Carol Eastman
Georgetown University
- 300 shared
Göran Hydén
University of Florida
- 300 shared
Robert Harms
Yale University
- 300 shared
Nancy J. Schmidt
- 300 shared
Carolyn Brown
- 300 shared
Robert Bates
Labs
Education
Ph.D.
School of Oriental and African Studies
B.A., African History
Harvard College
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Edward Alpers
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup