Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This course assesses how Britain's slavery past has been addressed in the modern era by investigating the relationships between history, memory, and memorialisation. First, this course provides a brief historical overview of Britain's involvement with Atlantic slavery and abolitions in 1807 and 1834. Second, this course examines how key events and associated narratives have been prioritised or downplayed in modern Britain. Students will investigate narratives of slavery and abolition in detail and those who shaped them at the time and since, including the role of historians and the state. Questions around Britain's memory of slavery will be assessed in a comparative context, focusing on Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London. Seminars focus on key debates, theories and events, alongside specific 'sites of memory': Abolition Bicentennial 2007, country houses and heritage sites, monuments and statues, universities, museums, and how these processes contribute to the reparations debate. For seminars, students will critically engage with a range of primary sources, secondary literature and official reports relevant to the development of Britain's 'public memory' of slavery and abolition. This course includes a visit to the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow, which has recently developed a permanent exhibition around Scotland's slavery past.

■ 10 x1 hour lectures (in-person,10 hours)

■ 9 x 1-hour seminars (in-person, 9 hours)

■ 1 x 1-hour on-site practical session in local heritage resource (Kelvingrove Museum) (in-person,1 hour)

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into History, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes.

None

None

The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Examination (2-hour duration) - 60%

■ Essay (2,000 words) - 30%

■ Seminar presentation of 8 minutes accompanied by a one-page A4 handout - 5%

■ Seminar contribution - 5%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the exam or essay, but extra time or flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

■ 1:1 presentation / Q&A with course convenor or recorded presentation as alternative to seminar presentation.

■ Written responses to seminar material in advance or after seminar or they can write a self-evaluation reflecting on seminar contribution as alternative to seminar contribution.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

This course will provide the opportunity for students to:

■ Develop a critical understanding how Britain's historic involvement with Atlantic slavery and abolitions has been forgotten, remembered and memorialised

■ Engage with historiographical and theoretical debates regarding Britain's history and memory of slavery and abolition

■ Develop a methodological understanding in how to interpret a range of primary sources related to Britain's history and memory of slavery

■ Consolidate research skills and develop a reflective understanding of importance in historical research and writing

■ Refine analytical skills by comparing developments around the memorialisation of slavery and abolition in British cities

■ Enhance oral and written communication skills

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Identify how narratives around Britain's historic involvement with Atlantic slavery and abolitions influence modern societal debates

■ Critically summarise - through written work, oral presentations, and class discussion - a range of historiographical and theoretical debates around the history and memory of slavery, and how these shape relevant research questions

■ Independently identify a range of relevant primary sources and secondary literature, and how to select and utilise evidence to answer research questions and debates

■ Assess how selective narratives of British slavery and abolition have influenced policy and strategic decisions at national and regional levels, and how this is applied in real-world contexts including in museums and heritage organisations

■ Critically engage - through written work, oral presentations and class discussion - with debates about the continued societal, cultural and political relevance of Britain's historic involvement with slavery and abolition