Lamonte Aidoo
Kiser Family Associate Professer

Lamonte Aidoo is the Kiser Family Associate Professor of Romance Studies at Duke University and Co-Director and Founder of the “From Slavery to Freedom: Representations of Race and Freedom in the African Diaspora” Lab at the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute. Dr. Aidoo earned his PhD, Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies. Aidoo is a teacher, scholar and mentor committed to anti-racism, social justice, and equality. His work examines the legacies of slavery, racial and sexual violence and their impact on nation formation in Brazil and throughout Latin America and the African Diaspora. Through an interdisciplinary, intersectional approach to Africana, Gender and Sexuality, and Latin American Studies, Dr. Aidoo explores how the histories and legacies of sexual and racial violence have been obscured, sanitized and erased from the national consciousness and its impact on black communities and histories throughout the Americas.

He is the author of the award-winning book, Slavery Unseen: Sex, Power and Violence in Brazilian History published by Duke University Press in the Latin America Otherwise series and was awarded the Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén book award by the Caribbean Philosophical Association. Examining concealed historical instances of same-sex sexual violence, the book shows how the myth of racial democracy elides the history of sexual violence, patriarchal terror, and exploitation of slaves.  Dr. Aidoo is also the editor of five books including: Lima Barreto: New Critical Perspectives, Emerging Dialogues on Machado de Assis, Lusophone African Short Stories and Poetry After Independence: Decolonial Destinies, Migrant Frontiers: Race and Mobility in the Iberian and Lusophone World, and Imperial Crossings: Writings on Race, Identity, and Power in the Lusophone World. Dr. Aidoo’s newest forthcoming monograph examines Black men, racial violence, homosexuality, and policing in post-emancipation Brazil.

In Spring 2021, Aidoo was named the Kiser Family Associate Professor of Romance Studies and appointed as a Bass Fellow in recognition of his excellence in scholarship and commitment to undergraduate education. Dr. Aidoo’s research has likewise been supported by fellowships and awards from a number of institutions, including the Fulbright Foundation and Woodrow Wilson Foundation.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Contact Information

  • 111 Language Center, Box 90257, Durham, NC 27708
  • Romance Studies, Box 90257, Durham, NC 27708

Some information on this profile has been compiled automatically from Duke databases and external sources. (Our About page explains how this works.) If you see a problem with the information, please write to Scholars@Duke and let us know. We will reply promptly.