Doctoral Candidate in History (defended)
About
Lucas Koutsoukos-Chalhoub is a historian of Latin America with a particular focus on Afro-Latin America and the intersections of race, politics, power, and populism in Brazil. His dissertation, "The Black Angel: Gregório Fortunato and the Politics of Race in Twentieth-Century Brazil," defended in May 2025, reassesses the role of race, racism, and fame through the lens of Gregório Fortunato (1900-1962), President Getúlio Vargas's chief bodyguard. By examining Fortunato's life, Lucas explores how his trajectory transformed the association of Black and poor Brazilians with Vargas-style populism into an enduring political trope. His work critiques the misrepresentation of Fortunato in history, often cast as merely a catalyst for Vargas's downfall, instead highlighting his significant role within Brazilian political and racial ideologies.
Lucas' scholarship also extends to the broader African diaspora, demonstrated by his published work in "Slavery & Abolition" regarding the illegal importation of Africans to New Orleans in 1819. He has also recently published an article at a premier Brazilian journal about how the Vargas regime’s racial policies emphasized whiteness while trumpeting racial inclusion. His future research will investigate the concept of “meritocracy” in Brazil as a tool for perpetuating structural racism.
Like his research, Lucas' teaching philosophy emphasizes the importance of including marginalized voices and combating educational biases. As a Graduate Student Instructor at Michigan, Lucas has taught a range of courses and designed activities to foster critical skills across diverse student groups. He is also deeply committed to mentoring and diversifying the academic profession through initiatives like Brazilian Historians in the United States, where he supports Brazilian scholars from underrepresented backgrounds, and through co-editing the column Brasil por Brazil, aimed at that democratizing access to US-based research for Brazilian scholars. He has presented his work at major conferences held by the Brazilian Studies Association, Harvard University's Afro-Latin American Research Institute and the Associação Nacional de História, among others. His scholarship has been supported by institutions including the University of Michigan Center for Latin American Studies and the Tinker Foundation.
Peer-reviewed publications:
Lucas Koutsoukos-Chalhoub, “Illegally Sold: The Josefa Segunda and Its Captives in New Orleans, 1818–1832,” Slavery & Abolition 44, no. 1 (2023): 69–89.
Lucas Koutsoukos-Chalhoub, "Whiteness on Display: The Contested Meanings of Dia da Raça in the Vargas Era," Mundos do Trabalho 16 (2024): 1-23.
