This one-day conference is held in honor of James Walvin, one of the great scholars of the Transatlantic slave trade, and a pioneer in the unearthing the history of Black Britain. Walvin’s extensive career has included work at universities in Barbados, Australia, Britain, Africa, and here at Yale, where he has held various fellowships, including a recent one at the Yale Center for British Art. Additionally, Jim Walvin was the British government advisor for the abolition celebrations in 2007, and he has recently been instrumental in developing a collaborative seminar with the Gilder Lehrman Center for educators in the U.S. the U.K, and West Africa to explore the history of the Middle Passage. This conference will bring together scholars from across the U.S., Britain, and the Caribbean to celebrate Walvin’s considerable work in the field.
Sponsored by Gilder Lehrman Center; the Initiative on Race Gender and Globalization at Yale; the European Studies Council; the British Studies Program; and the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Memorial Fund