The field trip was dedicated to the post-colonial reappraisal (or the lack thereof) of Great Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. On the one hand, the aim was to understand how Great Britain, as one of the most important colonial powers, remembers its participation in the slave trade in museums and, in particular, what roles are assigned to the enslaved. Secondly, the focus was on the visibility of the colonial past in the urban landscape (buildings, monuments, etc.). We were interested to find out the extent to which British society as a whole benefited directly and indirectly from enslavement and how established structures are still evident today. The group’s focus was on port cities, as these were particularly involved in the transatlantic triangular trade.
We visited two museums in London and Liverpool that deal intensively with the past of slavery (Dockland Museum, London and International Slavery Museum, Liverpool). Students applied their knowledge of museum studies in practice in order to examine the displays in their own on-site research projects. There were also workshops and guided tours in the cities to provide students with methods for recognizing traces and the legacy of the slave trade in the urban structure and especially in places of remembrance. The ambition here was also to understand current economic and political issues from a historical perspective.
Feedback from Students: What did you benefit from the most?
“The fact that I did hands-on research abroad and got to know field work in the humanities.”
“I really enjoyed learning with the help of the concrete object of study and the subject matter was more understandable and tangible than texts could ever convey.”
The students successfully presented their research findings in the form of academic poster presentations at the end of the summer term.
More personal experiences and a look into the field trip’s daily activities can be found on the faculty’s Instagram page: