Benjamin Schaffer

Adjunct Professor

Address: Maybank Hall, Room 300A
Office Hours: Fridays on Zoom 3:00-4:00, or directly before/after class.
Phone: 843.953.1420
E-mail: schafferbc@cofc.edu


Benjamin Schaffer currently teaches as an adjunct at the College of Charleston, focusing on the history of piracy. He graduated from College of Charleston with a degree in history in 2015 and received his masters and PhD from the University of New Hampshire in Atlantic World/Colonial Military History.

Dr. Schaffer's research explores how colonies throughout the Anglo-American world developed their own navies throughout the century leading up to the American Revolution, and how a century of independent naval defense contributed to the development of the American Navy during the Revolution. He is currently working on a book about provincial navies.


Education

Ph.D. University of New Hampshire, 2021
M.A. University of New Hampshire, 2018
B.A. College of Charleston, 2015

Research Interests

Naval history
English Atlantic World, 1600-1783
War and Society in America, 1680-1945
The History of Piracy
Imperial conflicts
Native American history

Publications

A “Small Vessel of Brisk Bostoneers”: The Life and Times of the Massachusetts Province Sloop Mary, c. 1688-1693, The Northern Mariner Le Marin Du Nord, 33(1), 1–26. (July 2023).

“Enduring for the Patient’s Sake: The Emotional Experiences and Endurance of American Ambulance Drivers in World War I,” U.S. Army Medical Department Journal, pp. 115+. (January-June, 2017).