News

By Molly Groarke PhD candidate in Modern British History. This post is part of Exploring Legacies of Enslavement: a research series, highlighting ongoing research on the legacies of enslavement. 

Two recent blogs from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) Digital Lab explore critical and collaborative approaches to engaging with museum collections. Digging Deep in Mompox traces lives and global connections through research in Colombia, while Light as a feather, and just as fragile reflects on the care, movement, and vulnerability…

The Collections-Connections-Communities (CCC) initiative has published a blog reflecting on gaps in museum collections and historical narratives, drawing on Caribbean histories and the Middle Passage to explore questions of absence, repair, and representation in curatorial practice.Read the full piece on the CCC website.

By Celeste Kazani, PhD candidate in English.This post is part of Exploring Legacies of Enslavement: a research series, highlighting ongoing research on the legacies of enslavement.  Content note: This post includes quotations from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sources that reflect the harmful attitudes and perspectives of their time.  Quotatio…

"That's history. That's truth. I Seen It Myself": T'tc~tsa (Wailaki) and the enslavement of California Native Americans.A brown-bag lunchtime talk with Professor Jean Pfaelzer exploring how enslaved and unfree Native American labor shaped California’s prosperity and its very aura. The talk will examine four stages, or errors, of Native American ens…

This round‑table conversation brings together Prof Louis Herns Marcelin (University of Miami) and Dr Ola Osman (University of Cambridge) to explore how the legacies of enslavement and colonialism shape contemporary forms of violence in Liberia and Haiti. Event detailsSpeakers:Prof Louis Herns Marcelin, University of Miami & Interuniversity Institut…

Difficulties and dangers: researching legacies of enslavement in a post-abolition women’s college, five years on.  By Toyin Akinkunmi and Tiger Chan. This piece reflects the research experiences and perspectives of the authors, who contributed to  Newnham College’s investigation into its financial and social legacies of enslavement as student resea…

This seminar explores Theophilus Richmond’s journal of the Hesperus, one of the first ships carrying Indian indentured migrants to the Caribbean after the abolition of slavery. Dr Mark Tumbridge will examine the text’s wider context, with particular attention to the enigmatic figure of the Black slave who appears in the journal, and how his presenc…

Samuel Pepys carefully curated evidence of his links to slavery. A new study reveals how and why.Read the full story on the main University website.

Magdalene College has released interim reports on its ongoing research into the College’s historical links to enslavement, including archival investigation, material culture analysis and wider efforts to understand and acknowledge its colonial past.Read the full piece on the Magdalene College website.

The George Bridgetower Essay Competition invites submissions from students exploring themes connected to Black history, culture, and creativity. The prize encourages thoughtful engagement with the life and legacy of George Bridgetower, the celebrated Afro‑Polish composer and violinist, and supports new scholarship that broadens understanding of Bla…

By Seetha Tan PhD candidate in Sociology. This post is part of Exploring Legacies of Enslavement: a research series, highlighting ongoing research on the legacies of enslavement. 

by Dr Dacia Viejo Rose, Prof Pedro Ramos Pinto and Dr Trish Biers.This report first appeared in the Cambridge Heritage Research Centre bulletin.

Students from across Africa are studying at the Department of Engineering thanks to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme at the University of Cambridge.  Read the full item on the Department of Engineering's website. 

Girton College invites student entries for the William Dusinberre Prize. The annual prize supports and recognises student research on the legacies and practices of enslavement, encouraging thoughtful, critically engaged work that brings hidden histories into view and connects them to contemporary concerns. Closing date: 29 April 2026 More informati…