Not available in 2020/21
EH316     
Atlantic World Slavery

This information is for the 2020/21 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Anne Ruderman 

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Economic History, BSc in Economic History with Economics and BSc in Economics and Economic History. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available to General Course students.

Course content

This course will explore the way the transatlantic slave trade and subsequent systems of slavery in the Americas have shaped our modern world. In doing so, it will offer a broad look at questions of slavery, resistance and abolition from the late seventeenth through the nineteenth century. Lasting over 300 years, the transatlantic slave trade resulted in the forced migration of 12.5 million people out of Africa, 10.6 million of whom survived the Middle Passage to become slaves in the Americas. That demographic movement and the disparities that grew out of it, has had deep consequences for development in Africa, Europe, the United States and Latin America. Thoroughly international in focus, this course will look at slavery in Africa, Europe and the Americas, considering the formation of transatlantic slavery, similarities and differences in Caribbean and North American slaveries and potential explanations for slavery's demise. We will consider the workings of the slave trade, the plantation complex, crops such as sugar, slavery outside of plantation economies, the intersection of slavery and science, gender, rebellion, revolt, abolition and war. The subject of Atlantic world slavery has also prompted a wide range of creative approaches from historians, and we will examine the different types of sources that historians of slavery have used to try to understand the past. In doing so we will juxtapose economic history with other historical methods, and consider some of the economic, social, cultural and legal aspects of slavery, from the commercial organization of the transatlantic slave trade to the multiple forms of slave resistance. Additionally, this course will introduce students to the rapidly expanding world of digital history, by incorporating digital projects related to slavery into weekly readings.  

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the LT.

This course will be taught over 20 one-hour lectures with a weekly discussion section. 

Formative coursework

The podcast project will include several formative assessments, due throughout the Lent term. These formative assessments are: A review and outline of an existing historical podcast, a topic and outline for the students' podcast and audio reading responses for discussion section.

Indicative reading

Assessment

Essay (50%, 4000 words) and podcast (50%) in the LT.

Key facts

Department: Economic History

Total students 2019/20: 16

Average class size 2019/20: 16

Capped 2019/20: Yes (15)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

Important information in response to COVID-19

Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.