Slavery, Emancipation and Legacies (L6303A)

30 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

How do contemporary and historical forms of slavery shape political, economic, social and cultural life along lines of race, caste, gender and class?

This module examines enslaved and unfree persons, processes of emancipation, and legacies of slavery from crosscultural perspectives. Despite longstanding national and international legislation on abolition and emancipation, slavery and unfree labour have ongoing histories and legacies. Addressing historical formations of slavery as well as their transformations into the contemporary era, the module explores:

• intersections of enslavement with genocide
• colonialism
• (forced) migration and global capitalism
• resistance
• rebellion and emancipation movements
• legacies of unfree labour in physical and structural violence
• intimate relationships
• material environments
• contested memorialisation.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 30 hours of contact time and about 270 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.