The three researchers provide interesting insights into their projects and discuss slavery and abolition in different temporal and geographical contexts.
Sara Eriksson: "How to do an Archeology of Slavery: A Case Study from Ancient Greece"
Abstract:
What can a small piece of lead used to repair a cook pot tell us about slavery in ancient Greece? In this talk, I demonstrate how we can see the experience of oppressed people in the past through the objects that archaeologists dig up. Following the path of a lead repair from where it was found in The Sanctuary of Poseidon on the island of Poros all the way back to its origins in the Laurion silver mines outside Athens, we uncover the lives and labor of the enslaved people that formed the backbone of the ancient Greek society.
Prof. Dr. Sarah Zimmerman: "Gender, Slavery, and World Heritage on Gorée Island (Senegal)"
Abstract:
In May of 2018, a coalition of Senegalese activists took to social media to denounce the inauguration of the "Place d’Europe" on Gorée Island—a Senegalese UNESCO World Heritage site that commemorates the transatlantic slave trade. The imagery from the inauguration and the ensuing public debates demonstrate that women and slavery are part of a complicated past that Senegalese officials and anti-imperialist activists seek to mobilize in an effort to draw connection with and discredit the historical legacies of France’s presence in Senegal. This presentation focuses on gender and domestic slavery to determine if recent public debates and renovations on Gorée have opened up new possibilities for who or what is commemorated on the island in the twenty-first century.