The abolition of the international slave trades in the United Kingdom (1807) and the United States (1808) was perhaps only a small step for these nation-states, but created significant consequences for national identities and cultural developments within each sovereignty and spheres of influence. Millions of kidnapped Africans were transported as unfree labor for European colonies. Emerging democracies in the New World, including Haiti, which pioneered emancipation for slaves, launched a new era for victims of the African diaspora.
Scores of commemorative events and programs have highlighted the anniversary of these watershed events in recent months. In May 2008 we will gather in Belfast at a conference co-sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Center for Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University and the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University to contemplate both trans-Atlantic perspectives on this renewed examination of the beginning of the end the slave trade’s dominance of the Atlantic World. Special attention will be paid to the influence of Irish antislavery during this transforming epoch. Our program will include reflections on how to best continue our project of expanding slavery studies and anti-slavery efforts within the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Museum curators, public historians, and scholars from a variety of disciplines and institutions will come together with a goal of creating an ongoing network of resources to highlight the ways and means of keeping antislavery commemorations in the forefront.
In addition to a single day’s series of panels, we will be sponsoring a roundtable (to be held one day in advance of the main program) highlighting new and emerging scholarship by postgraduates. This competitive invitation will allow three students in graduate programs (enrolled or applying) to present new work on the slave trades and the transatlantic context, chaired and critiqued by the conference co-convenors.
CANDIDATES ARE INVITED TO APPLY for presentation of their work (20 page essays only) at our POSTGRADUATE ROUNDTABLE ON THURSDAY, MAY 29th. Travel and accommodation to and from Belfast will be paid for all successful candidates.
SOLICITATIONS ARE SOUGHT ON ANY OR ALL ASPECTS OF THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ABOLITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SLAVE TRADES—with comparative approaches and/or materials on Ireland especially welcome.
Candidates should send a brief c.v., a one- to two-page proposal, and two letters of recommendation to:
THE GILDER LEHRMAN CENTER
YALE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 208206
NEW HAVEN, CT 06520-8206
ATTN: POSTGRADUATE ROUNDTABLE COMPETITION
Electronic Applications may be submitted to:
gilder.lehrman.center@yale.edu.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 30, 2007