Organised by The Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, UK.
Cape Town, South Africa, 19-22 November 2009.
CALL FOR PAPERS:
An International Conference organised by the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, UK.
Taking place in the Iziko Slave Lodge in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2009, this conference coincided with the arrival of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2009-10 in Cape Town harbour. Mirroring its aims to broaden knowledge and understanding and promote tolerance through teamwork, new relationships and the sharing and development of skills, the conference sought to encourage researchers to open a conversation on the subject of slavery in the worlds of the Indian and Atlantic oceans. The four-day conference, which brought together early career researchers and leading world scholars, was interdisciplinary in nature and chronologically diverse, in order to encourage a fruitful cross-fertilization of ideas, sources and methods. The histories of slavery and the slave trade in the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans have been the focus of a substantial body of research; this conference aimed to unite the perspectives of researchers in these parallel fields to promote a culture of exchange and cooperation in the innovative context of Twin Ocean Slavery. Crucially, there were opportunities for postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, educators and museum professionals to interact with prominent academics from across the world: confirmed speakers for the conference included Edward Alpers; Gwyn Campbell; David Eltis; Paul Lovejoy; John Oldfield; Nigel Penn; David Richardson; and Nigel Worden.
The Twin Ocean theme was the focus of this four-day event, but the first two days of the conference were reserved exclusively for early career researchers and interested professionals, from whom we encouraged papers that examined past and present connections between the Indian and Atlantic worlds.