Please welcome the University of Liverpool to Universities Studying Slavery (USS)!

We are very pleased to announce that the University of Liverpool has joined the growing Universities Studying Slavery movement. The University of Liverpool is the fifth European university to join the consortium and is located in the English port city of Liverpool, which had a long history of involvement in the Atlantic slave trade.

Yet this legacy is more than simply a matter to be consigned to a distant past. One can still see reminders every day in the street names, statues, and built environment. The far reach of prejudice and discrimination that has shaped society may be less visible but is no less real.

As a place of learning, the University of Liverpool has sought to engage with this difficult heritage. The Centre for the Study of International Slavery (CSIS) was established in 2006 and has forged a unique partnership with the city’s International Slavery Museum. The CSIS has established a program of activities including lectures, symposiums, cultural events, and educational projects that foster an exciting synergy between academics and the wider community.

Liverpudlians are committed to remembering and learning from the historical forces that built the modern city. Colleagues at the University of Liverpool are looking forward to working as part of USS, to advocate for human rights today, and acknowledge the wrongs of the past. In the immediate future, the institution seeks to research its own links with slavery, drawing upon interdisciplinary expertise from its faculties and across the United Kingdom, and to further understanding of slavery and unfree labour. The school’s work is led by Dr. Laura Sandy, Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of International Slavery (CSIS) and Lecturer in the History of Slavery at the University of Liverpool.

Please welcome the University of Liverpool to the team!