Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice
Date
May 28, 2026
2025 Annual Report Update: Visiting Fellow Reflections
Reflections from Zawdie Sandvliet and Ningxin Gao.
Zawdie Sandvliet
My advisor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Professor Pepijn Brandon, summarized my time at Brown best when I talked to him about my experiences during my fellowship. He pointed out that the work I had done might not make it into my dissertation, but that it changed me as an intellectual. The independent study with Professor Bogues during my semester at Brown was especially life changing. To be able to read, think and write from a Black Caribbean perspective with a scholar of his stature has added valuable intellectual baggage to my further development as a Black man in and outside of academia.
Zawdie Sandvliet
Simmons Center Graduate Fellow
John Carter Brown Library Fellow
Fulbright Research Scholar Ph.D. candidate at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
Ningxin Gao
I am profoundly grateful to the Department of History and the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice for their generous support during my fellowship. Participating in the Center’s rich academic events deepened my understanding of Brown’s leadership in confronting the legacies of slavery and broadened my perspective on antislavery politics. I especially want to thank Professor Seth Rockman for his invaluable guidance and Brown’s exceptional library resources, which greatly enhanced my research.
Ningxin Gao
Simmons Center Graduate Fellow
Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of History
Graduate School Visiting Scholar
Ph.D. candidate in American history at Wuhan University, China