Universities and their contested pasts

A two-day symposium on universities and their contested pasts

11 – 12 September 2019
Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester (U.K.)

For many years, universities and their pasts were seen as a benign backwater – histories of institutions of public benefit of interest to alumni, staff and academic historians. However, in recent years, attention has been drawn to the uncomfortable past of some of these institutions.

Protests around the world have prompted universities associated with colonialism, slavery and inequality to face up to, and reconsider, their own histories. Presently, institutions are subject to calls from inside and outside their own walls to answer uncomfortable questions about: where their funding has its origins, the land they occupy and the provenance of their cultural and heritage collections.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May

More info at the web site