School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 1-5 of 5 Results
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J. P. Daughton
Professor of History and, by courtesy, of French and Italian
BioJ. P. Daughton is a historian of modern Europe, imperialism and colonialism, and global history. His teaching and publications explore political, cultural, social, and environmental history, as well as the modern history of religion, technology, and humanitarianism. His affiliations at Stanford include the Europe Center, the Center for African Studies, and the Center for Human Rights and International Justice.
His most recent book, In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism (W. W. Norton, 2021), tells the story of one of the deadliest construction projects in history. Between 1921 and 1934, French colonial interests recruited -- most often by force -- more than 100,000 men, women, and children to work on a 500-kilometer stretch of rail between Brazzaville and the Atlantic Coast. In the end, tens of thousands of Africans were dead, killed by mistreatment, starvation, and disease. The book painstakingly recounts the experiences of local communities in the face of colonial economic development, considers why the railroad witnessed such extraordinary violence and suffering, and explores how the rhetoric of "civilization" and "development" were used to justify the loss of so many African lives. In the Forest of No Joy was reviewed widely, including in the Economist, the New York Review of Books, the TLS, and the New Yorker. It was shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize and was a finalist for the American Library in Paris Book Prize. A French translation is forthcoming with Éditions du Seuil.
Daughton is also the author of An Empire Divided: Religion, Republicanism, and the Making of French Colonialism, 1880-1914 (Oxford University Press, 2006), a book that tells the story of how troubled relations between Catholic missionaries and a host of republican critics shaped colonial policies, Catholic perspectives, and domestic French politics in the decades before the First World War. Based on archival research from four continents, the book challenges the long-held view that French colonizing and “civilizing” goals were the product of a distinctly secular republican ideology built on Enlightenment ideals. A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, An Empire Divided was awarded the George Louis Beer Prize for the best book in international history from the American Historical Association, as well as the Alf Andrew Heggoy Book Prize from the French Colonial Historical Society.
Daughton's current book project explores the role of fraud and corruption in modern imperialism through the story of a late-nineteenth-century con man who convinced hundreds of men and women from across Europe to attempt to colonize an uninhabited corner of Papua-New Guinea. The book will be published by W.W. Norton in 2027.
He is also the editor, with Owen White, of In God’s Empire: French Missionaries in the Modern World (Oxford University Press, 2012), a collection of essays on the role played by French religious workers in the empire and beyond. His essays and reviews, on themes related to colonial violence, international governance, informal empire, and cultural policy, have appeared in publications like the Journal of Modern History, the American Historical Review, and French Historical Studies. He has received awards and fellowships from the J. William Fulbright Foundation, the ACLS, the Mellon Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trust, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.
Daughton’s PhD advisees have written on a wide range of subjects, from nineteenth-century French cultural policies to the history of famine, and from alcohol consumption in the First World War to the work of international NGOs in Algeria during decolonization. He is currently accepting graduate students interested in modern Europe, empire, humanitarianism, international politics, war and society, and environmental history. -
Luis Fabiano de Assis, Ph.D.
Affiliate, Center for Human Rights and International Justice
BioDr. Luis Fabiano de Assis is a Brazilian Federal Prosecutor and data scientist whose work bridges law, public policy, and computational science. He is a Research Fellow at Stanford University's Center for Human Rights and International Justice, a founding member of the Stanford Human Trafficking Data Lab, and the founder of the SmartLab Initiative in Brazil - a public-interest platform that turns open data and knowledge-management tools into evidence for stronger labor rights and public policy.
For more than two decades, his work has centered on a single question: how can public institutions convert scattered administrative data into intelligence that actually changes outcomes on the ground? In his hands, the answer has taken the form of compliance strategies, enforcement plans, and frontline interventions targeting forced labor, human trafficking, child labor, occupational health risks, and workplace inequality.
He is internationally recognized as an expert on data technologies for decent work and human rights, and has advised United Nations University, the International Labour Organization (in Brazil, across Latin America, and in Geneva), and the World Bank (Washington/DC). As an expert member of the Alliance 8.7 Knowledge Platform Reference Group, hosted by United Nations University in New York, he contributes to global efforts aligned with SDG Target 8.7: ending modern slavery, forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking.
As Chief Research and Data Officer at the Brazilian Federal Labor Prosecution Office, Dr. Assis led the development of SmartLab in partnership with the ILO and a wide network of public and private collaborators. Since 2016, the platform has grown into a national public-good infrastructure for evidence-based labor policy, serving all 5,570 Brazilian municipalities through digital observatories that support policymaking, monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement. In its first decade, SmartLab drew more than two million page views from users in 95 countries, generated over 60,000 media references, and was cited in 854 academic works, including doctoral dissertations and master's theses. He also coordinates Monitora 8.7, a regional network supporting projects across Latin America and the Caribbean in cooperation with the ILO.
Dr. Assis has helped design and deploy human-centered AI tools for frontline anti-trafficking work, such as decision support tools with satellite imagery, machine learning, geospatial intelligence, administrative records, and user-centered design to prioritize trafficking tips and flag high-risk labor sites, helping task forces plan smarter, intervene earlier, and operate more effectively in remote, resource-constrained areas.
At the National School of Public Prosecutors in Brazil, he teaches law and public policy, with courses spanning AI, big data, evidence-based programs, behavioral science, accountability systems, data-driven investigations, collective litigation, and data protection law. His current research examines human trafficking, forced labor, social protection and health outcomes among trafficking survivors, supply-chain due diligence, AI-based risk prediction, vulnerability mapping, and decision-support systems.
From 2019 to 2022 he was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, working with the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, the Center for Health Policy, the King Center on Global Development, and the Graduate School of Business.
Education and Affiliations
LL.B., University of São Paulo, 2002
LL.M., University of São Paulo, 2008
Ph.D. in Law, University of São Paulo, 2011
Research Fellow, Stanford University, 2018–present
Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, 2019–2022
Founding Member, Stanford Human Trafficking Data Lab
Professor, National School of Public Prosecutors, Brazil
Federal Prosecutor, Brazilian Federal Labor Prosecution Office -
Larry Diamond
Mosbacher Senior Fellow of Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor, by courtesy, of Sociology and of Political Science
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsdemocratic development and regime change; U.S. foreign policy affecting democracy abroad; comparative trends in the quality and stability of democracy in developing countries and postcommunist states; and public opinion in new democracies, especially in East Asia
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Samantha Isabelle Yosuico Dizon
Undergraduate Student Program Coordinator, CEC&L Operations
Undergraduate, Communication
Undergraduate, Inter-Departmental Programs
Student Employee, Vice Provost for Student AffairsBioHi! My name is Sam (she/her/hers). I’m a sophomore at Stanford University studying Communication and Disability Studies. I have a passion for creativity and advocacy; along with showcasing my artwork online through Instagram, I use my skills to help advocate for Autistic and Disabled rights (@ArtsBySam). I always strive to bring about positive change and I value the beauty of human connection and expression.
I currently work as the Assistant Coordinator for the Stanford University Disability Community (DisCo) Space. I help create graphics needed for newsletters and Instagram, manage our social media, organize events, and help make the DisCo Space as inclusive as possible.
Feel free to reach me at SamDizon@Stanford.edu!
