Arrannè Rispoli
Biography
Arrannè (uh-Rahn-AYE) Rispoli is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at UCLA, where he studies slavery, race, and law in the early modern Atlantic world. He is currently writing his dissertation titled “The Justice of Malicious Intent: Capital Punishment and The Origins of Black Criminality in Early New England,” which he will defend in the spring of 2027. His work has been generously supported by the Omohundro Institute, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the New England Research Fellowship Consortium. Before beginning his doctoral work at UCLA, Arrannè received his BA in both History and English Literature from Canisius College, an MA in History from the University at Buffalo, and an M.S. in Urban Education from Johns Hopkins University. Between 2019 and 2021, he was a member of Teach for America where he taught middle-school Social Studies in Baltimore City Public Schools. During that time, he was selected by the State of Maryland to help write and implement a new social studies curriculum in Baltimore City.
Publications
- Paige-Rispoli, Arranne G. (2019) “Between the Pulpit and the Gallows: Forging Race and Identity in 18th Century New England,” Madison Historical Review: Vol. 16, Article 6.
- Review of Marc. A Hertzman’s After Palmares: Diaspora, Inheritance, and the Afterlives of Zumbi. Journal of Global Black Thought (Forthcoming Fall 2025)
Awards & Grants
- Andrew W. Mellon Short-Term Research Fellowship, Massachusetts Historical Society (2026)
- Folger Shakespeare Library Short-Term Research Fellowship (2026)
- Lapidus Fellowship for the Study of Rare Early American Legal Texts, Omohundro Institute and William & Mary Law School (2025)
- New England Research Fellowship Consortium (Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, Boston Atheneum, Boston Congregational Library, Newport Historical Society, 2025)
- Barry Hittner Research Fellowship, Rhode Island Historical Society (2025)
- Gary B. Nash Early American Fellowship, UCLA (2023)
- Summer Mentor Research Fellowship, UCLA (2022)
- Charles S. and Myra Jacobwitz Scholarship, University at Buffalo (2018)
- Milton Plesur Scholarship, University at Buffalo (2017)
Conference Presentations
“Can You Find Heavn in a Wildflower? Criminality, Enslavement, and Redemption in Colonial New England,” Washington Early American Seminar, University of Maryland, College Park. Hosted by the Fred. W. Smith National Library for Study of George Washington. Scheduled for May 2, 2025.
“Race, Crime, and Execution in Arthur’s Atlantic Odyssey,” NYU Atlantic History Group, New York University, Spring 2024.
“Race and Redemption Between Boston and Barbary,” The Forum on Early-Modern Empires and Global Interactions, Brown University, Spring 2024.
“African Redeemers in Barbary Captivity Narratives,” Renaissance Society of America, Kings College London (Virtual), Winter 2022.
“Black Bodies and White Hands: Captivity Narratives Along the Barbary Coast,” Race, Racism, and Religion: Silences and Absences, Histories and Methodologies, Columbia University (Virtual), Winter 2022.
“Between the Pulpit and the Gallows: Original Sin, Capital Punishment, and Identity in Eighteenth-Century New England,” Susman Conference, Rutgers University, Spring 2019.
“The Dissemination of Execution Sermons,” Future Professoriate Program Conference, Syracuse University, Spring 2019.
