Calvin Schermerhorn is a historian of slavery, capitalism and African American inequality. He teaches slavery and human trafficking in a comparative perspective, viewing modern slavery in historical terms and is engaged in public history shining a light on the domestic slave trade. His research has been funded by fellowships and grants from the Smithsonian, Huntington Library, Gilder Lehrman Center, American Philosophical Society, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, among other organizations.

He is a professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and teaches courses in US and global history and advises Barrett Honors and graduate students. Schermerhorn arrived at ASU in 2008 after earning a doctorate from the University of Virginia. Before that he worked in marketing in New Jersey and family support on an Air Force base in Washington, D.C.