University of York marks bicentenary of abolition
Posted on 2 February 2007
York was one of the political arenas in which abolitionist William Wilberforce fought to end the slave trade. York’s programme to mark the bicentenary will include a major conference, a summer school for adult learners and public lectures by politicians, academics and prominent church figures.
The centenary events will be launched in February with a series of public lectures by leading academics on different aspects of slavery.
It is entirely fitting that so many distinguished scholars and speakers should be visiting the University....in order to explore and analyse the meaning and legacy of the slave trade
Professor Miles Taylor
They will pave the way for an international bicentenary conference at King’s Manor in York from 12 to 14 April 2007 examining the meaning and impact across the Atlantic world of formal abolition in 1807.The University is a fitting venue as its Department of History has a long association with pioneering scholarship on the history of slavery and black studies in the UK.
The conference programme features speakers from the UK, Europe, Africa and North America. Sessions will examine a range of issues including the impact of abolition in Africa, the Caribbean, and on the major European powers; recollections of abolition in the ports used by slave traders; the literature of emancipation and the legacy of abolition in the 20th century.
In July, there will be an open-access Summer School run by the University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning open to all adult learners. The 10-credit module Fighting Slavery Past, Present and Into the Future: Commemorating the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade combines seminars and lectures with private study, and visits and round-table discussions. A number of experts in social and economic history, women and slavery, contemporary issues of exploitation, and the politics of the bicentenary have been invited to speak.
There will also be lectures at venues in the city featuring guest speakers including Clare Short MP (former Minister for International Development), Trevor Phillips (Chair Commission for Equality and Human Rights), Dr Alastair Redfern (the Bishop of Derby), and Aidan McQuade (Director, Anti-Slavery International).
In November, the University’s annual Morrell Lecture on Toleration will be given by writer and broadcaster Caryl Phillips.
Professor Miles Taylor, of the Department of History at York, who helped to organise the bicentenary programme, said: "York and its region is where the abolitionist movement began, and so it is entirely fitting that so many distinguished scholars and speakers should be visiting the University in the course of 2007 in order to explore and analyse the meaning and legacy of the slave trade".
Notes to editors:
- The University of York’s Department of History combines exciting and original research with the best traditions of stimulating and innovative teaching. Widely accepted as one of the foremost centres of historical research and practice in the UK, the Department numbers some thirty professional academic staff and approximately 800 undergraduate and graduate students. The Department is rated ’Excellent’ in teaching and received a ’5A’ rating in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.
- More information on the public lectures is available at www.york.ac.uk/admin/presspr/ppr/ocourses.htm
- More information on the conference is available at www-users.york.ac.uk/~hist35/abolitions/
- The non-residential summer school is open to all adult learners with an interest in slavery and is open-access so no prior qualifications are required. For more information contact Dr Adrian Lee, of the Centre for Lifelong Learning, on 01904 434621 or at aml106@york.ac.uk