Events

Our Cambridge-based programme includes lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and community activities that explore the University’s historical links to slavery and colonialism and encourage dialogue on their ongoing impact.

Upcoming events

Bearing witness: responsibility, recognition  and the quest for repair 
12 May  | 5:30pm | Garden Room, St Edmund’s College

This year’s Von Hügel Lecture features Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, whose work explores memory, responsibility and repair, offering insights that resonate with global conversations about historical injustice.

World History workshop 
14 May | 2:00pm to 3:30pm | Hybrid: Seminar Room B, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge and online 

A workshop featuring two papers on global historical themes, including research on Pacific Islanders’ experiences of recruitment and transportation as indentured labourers in Fiji (1876–1910). Remote attendance is available for the World History workshop mailing list subscribers. 

Imperial Paris: slavery and everyday life in the capital of the enlightenment (c.1750-1789) 
19 May | 5pm to 7pm | Long Room, Gonville and Caius College 
 
A seminar by Miranda Spieler (American University in Paris) examining how slavery shaped everyday life in eighteenth-century Paris, as part of the Faculty of History’s Eighteenth Century Seminar series.

The REACH Annual Lecture: We must move the needle on inequality in academia
20 May | 6:00pm to 7:45pm | Wolfson College

This inaugural REACH Annual Lecture features Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu and explores what work is needed to improve outcomes for Black and minoritised ethnic students within British higher education, and why a more diverse academic community benefits all.

The First Crossing and The Transition from Slavery to Indentureship in the Caribbean 
21 May | 5:15pm to 6:15pm | Chadwick Room, Selwyn College

This seminar, organised by the Legacies of Enslavement Special Initiative, features Dr Mark Tumbridge (University of Guyana) and examines Theophilus Richmond’s journal of the Hesperus, exploring how it reshapes understandings of creolisation in Guyana.

Afterimages: grieving in fractured time 
21 May | 5pm to 6:30pm | Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Site

This lecture hosted by The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) features Professor Tina Campt (Princeton University), who reflects on grief, memory and visual culture through her forthcoming work Art in a Time of Sorrow.

Learning for Liberation: Queer, Disabled, and Anti‑Racist Pedagogies in the University
21 May | 10:00am to 3:30pm | Faculty of English, University of Cambridge

This symposium brings together scholars, artists, and educators to explore how marginal practices reshape teaching, learning, and community in the university.

The Audrey Richards Annual Lecture in African Studies 
21 May | 5pm to 6pm | Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Trinity College 

This year’s lecture will be delivered by John Lonsdale, exploring African political thought through the theme Self-mastery: Jomo Kenyatta and state-free African politics. 

Africa’s pasts in Africa’s future: a conference honouring John Lonsdale
22 to 23 May  | Centre of African Studies, Alison Richard Building

This conference will draw together leading scholars and students of African history to discuss the major themes pursued by the distinguished Cambridge historian John Lonsdale.

Anticolonialism, Race and Violence in Basque Radical Nationalism (1892–1936) 
27 May | 3:00pm to 4:00pm | SG2, Alison Richard Building 

This talk, hosted by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), features Dr María Reyes Baztán and presents new research on the origins and development of anticolonial language and rhetoric within early Basque radical nationalism. 

Cambridge-Africa Day 2026 
16 June | 9:00am to 5:30pm | Downing College 

This annual event brings together researchers, partners, and practitioners to showcase collaborative work between Cambridge and African institutions. The programme highlights research, partnerships, and initiatives addressing key challenges and opportunities across the African continent. 

Black Town and Gown: film screening and discussion 
9 July | 1:00pm to 3:00pm | Fitzwilliam Museum 

This screening of Black Town and Gown explores the historical legacy of Black presence in Cambridge, featuring personal stories from scholars and local residents. The film will be followed by a discussion with community participants and producers Dr Kenny Monrose and Seetha Tan. 

Members of the Legacies of Enslavement Network also organise events that align with our shared aims in locations beyond Cambridge. These activities provide opportunities to engage with research and dialogue on slavery, colonialism, and their legacies across the UK and internationally. Please check this page regularly as we add new events throughout the year.

Please note that responsibility for organisation and content rests with the hosting institution or group.

Upcoming events

Reimagining Higher Education as Accountable Partners in Repair and Transformation | International Conference
18 May | 8:30am to 5:30pm | We The Curious, Bristol

An international conference bringing together scholars, civil society organisations, activists, artists, students and community knowledge holders to explore how higher education institutions can act as accountable partners in reparatory transformation.  

Archives of medical racism, slavery and colonialism in Liverpool
20 May | 12:00pm to 4:30pm | Liverpool Record Office

This half‑day workshop, part of the Working with Traumatic Histories series explores the interconnected histories of medicine, slavery, and colonialism. Focusing on archival materials held in Liverpool, including records of surgeons practising aboard slaving ships, it examines the development and circulation of racist medical knowledge.

Cohesion and conflict: enslaved society on Turner's hall plantation 
21 May  | 4pm to 5:30pm | Wilberforce Institute (University of Hull)

This event examines life and social dynamics on a Barbadian sugar plantation between 1755 and 1834.
 

This section provides details of previous events, along with resources such as recordings, blogs, papers and further information where available. 

Celebrating Black Minds: Opening event at the Fitzwilliam Museum - 29 January 2026
The opening event of Celebrating Black Minds, marked the launch of a year-long programme dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the intellectual, cultural and civic contributions of Black scholars at the University of Cambridge. 

Book launch & discussion: The University of Cambridge in the Age of Atlantic Slavery - 18 November 2025
The Legacies of Enslavement Initiative and Cambridge University Press hosted the launch of The University of Cambridge in the Age of Atlantic Slavery by Dr Nicolas Bell-Romero. Dr Bell-Romero's book was the result of several years of research, initially undertaken in the context of the 2019-2022 University Legacies of Enslavement working group.

Simón Bolívar Seminar: Manoel Joaquim Ricardo, A successful Hausa freedman in Bahia - 13 October 2025
The Centre of Latin American Studies (CLAS), in collaboration with the Legacies of Enslavement Special Initiative, opened its Michaelmas Term seminar series with a public lecture by Professor João José Reis, Simón Bolívar Professor at CLAS 2025–26. The event was chaired by Dr Adrián Lerner Patrón and brought together students, academics and members of the wider community. 

Searching for My Slave Roots: A conversation with author Malik Al Nasir - 9 October 2025
As part of Black History Month 2025, St Catharine’s College History Society and the Faculty of Education hosted an evening event to mark the publication of Malik Al Nasir’s new book, Searching for My Slave Roots: From Guyana’s Sugar Plantations to Cambridge (William Collins, 2025). The event was sponsored by the University’s Legacies of Enslavement project and ThinkLab.