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Gunther W. Peck

Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Dept of History, Box 90719, Durham, NC 27708-0719
308 Classroom Bldg, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


My research focuses on the long history of human trafficking and its relationship to the evolution of racial ideology, humanitarian intervention, and immigration policy in North America and Europe.

In addition to mentoring both History and Public Policy graduate students, I regularly teach four undergraduate lecture courses entitled “Immigrant Dreams, American Realities: U.S. Immigration Policy History,”  “Historicizing Whiteness,” “Human Trafficking, Past to Present,” and “North American Environmental History.”  As a community activist in North Carolina, I have also taken a keen interest in voting rights and understanding how and why citizens do and do not vote.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2025 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor of History · 2025 - Present History, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Bass Fellow · 2011 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy

Recent Grants


Peck Visiting Associate Professor at Yale

Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Yale University · 2017 - 2018

View All Grants

Education, Training & Certifications


Yale University · 1994 Ph.D.
Yale University · 1991 M.A.
University of Wisconsin, Madison · 1989 M.A.
Princeton University · 1984 B.A.