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8th Summer Academy of Atlantic History – CFP

Multiplicities of Freedom and Unfreedom in Atlantic Worlds

23-27 August 2023

Hosted by Professor Trevor Burnard

Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery, Hull

Today, freedom is a much used and abused concept with many different meanings and limitations; be it in the realm of health politics and pandemics, voting rights, free speech, access to resources and consumption, environmental problems, or climate change. 

With our 8th Summer Academy of Atlantic History, we want to look into what freedom/unfreedom meant for early modern Atlantic Worlds

  • – in terms of religious tolerance/intolerance and politics of toleration,
  • – in the realm of politics (e.g. nationhood, sovereignty, republicanism, independence movements, and revolutions), 
  • – for legal and social status (e.g. personal freedom, enslavement, serfdom, indentured servitude),
  • – for economies, that is trade and commerce, land, or more generally, property rights, indebtedness
  • – for intellectual thinking, discussions and publications.

How were spaces of freedom carved in contexts of unfreedom? Who were the actors that owned or claimed freedom between the 15th and mid-19th centuries? Did claims/restrictions come with the term “freedom”? And what did freedom/unfreedom mean in specific contexts?

For the 8th Summer Academy of Atlantic History, we invite applications from PhD students working on the history of the Atlantic World between the fifteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. While all projects pertaining to Atlantic History will be considered, we are particularly interested in applications on this year’s theme. 

As well as providing the selected students with an opportunity to present papers and engage in discussion with tutors and their fellow students on their research, the Summer Academy will also host keynote speakers who will address broad themes appertaining to Atlantic History.

Prospective student participants should send a CV and a summary (3-4 pages altogether) of their research projects to lauric.henneton@gmail.com and susanne.lachenicht@uni-bayreuth.de by 31 May 2022. Please use the following form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjie2BvZ_4qT4cQ_HPN5p2HtTJ6M9ZgMZlXJEzR0yCEkC5cQ/viewform

Successful applicants will be notified by 30 June 2022.

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Organizers and steering committee:

– Prof Trevor Burnard (University of Hull, UK)
– Prof Nicholas Canny (NUI Galway, Ireland)
– Dr Lauric Henneton (Univ. Versailles-Saint-Quentin, France)
– Prof Susanne Lachenicht (Univ. Bayreuth, Germany)
– Dr Ben Marsh (Univ. of Kent, UK)
– Prof Philip D. Morgan (Johns Hopkins University, USA), honory member
– Prof L.H. Roper (SUNY New Paltz, USA)
– Prof Bartolomé Yun Casalilla (UPO, Seville, Spain)

Previous SAAH sessions can be consulted at https://www.fruehe-neuzeit.uni-bayreuth.de/en/conferences-workshops/Summer-Academy-of-Atlantic-History/index.html