To develop students' familiarity with historical contexts for slavery and introduce them to potential areas for specialization;

To develop students' familiarity with curatorial practice and theoretical approaches to the commemoration of slavery in museums and other reflections of public memory;

To develop students’ analytical understanding of contemporary debates about the memorialization of slavery in the built environment and beyond;

To allow staff and students to benefit from ambitious and broad discussion of slavery as a concept in both historical and contemporary perspective, beyond discrete research contexts.

(LO1) A sophisticated understanding of slavery as a conceptual category of analysis and the extent to which it aids our understanding of contemporary and historical experiences of freedom and "un-freedom".

(LO2) Appropriate disciplinary skills, becoming familiar with a range of techniques, methods and concepts deployed in the analysis of slaveries and its legacies.

(LO3) Knowledge of "slavery" and its afterlives in a wide variety of historical and contemporary contexts.

(LO4) Analyse theoretical approaches to public history and the commemoration of slavery.

(LO5) Apply scholarly knowledge to the contextual evaluation of an existing interpretation of slavery in a context of public understanding of the phenomenon.

(LO6) Communicate ideas or conclusions to non-academic audiences.

(S1) Skills of written communication and rational argument, drawing on appropriate disciplinary methods.

(S2) Expertise in identifying and deploying appropriate evidence to support analysis and conclusions.

(S3) Confident and constructive oral argument.

(S4) Global perspectives demonstrate international perspectives as professionals/citizens; locate, discuss, analyze, evaluate information from international sources; consider issues from a variety of cultural perspectives, consider ethical and social responsibility issues in international settings; value diversity of language and culture.

(S5) Research management: developing a research strategy, project planning and delivery, risk management, formulating questions, selecting literature, using primary/secondary/diverse sources, collecting & using data, applying research methods, applying ethics.

In covering the areas outlined in the module synopsis, the syllabus will address the following broad issues, concepts and theories [N.B. particular topics may change depending on the theoretical specialisms of the teaching team]:

Slavery in a transatlantic frame:

Europe;
West Africa;
The Americas;
Resistance.

Liverpool and slavery:

Liverpool as capital of the transatlantic traffic in enslaved Africans;
Liverpool and abolitionism;
International Slavery Museum.

Heritage:

Plantation museums in the USA;
Slavery and dark tourism;
Memorializing slavery.

Public history and activism:

Slavery and medicine;
2007: Britain’s Bicentennial commemoration;
Slavery, statues and memoryscapes;
Protest and activism;
Reparations for slavery.

Seminar:
This module is taught through weekly seminars. The precise structure may vary depending on the size of the teaching team but will never be less than the total 24 contact hours. Seminars will usually begin with a brief overview of the designated topic of the week by a member of staff, followed by small-group discussions based on designated readings prepared in advance of the seminar, and then a wider class discussion drawing on staff and student research interests. The module will include engagement with the International Slavery Museum, including a fieldtrip to the site.

The majority of teaching will be delivered face-to-face on campus. Online delivery will be used to complement the on-campus delivery and where technology affords a better learning experience.