Representing Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Britain
Workshop for Graduate Students
9 – 10 December 2014
The Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Lewis Walpole Library, Farmington
In December 2014, The Lewis Walpole Library and the Yale Center for British Art will jointly host a two-day workshop for graduate students focusing on two current Yale University
exhibitions related to the visual culture of slavery, Figures of Empire: Slavery and Portraiture in Eighteenth- Century Atlantic Britain and Prospects of Empire: Slavery and Ecology in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Britain. The workshop will
provide an opportunity to explore these complementary exhibitions in depth and to examine additional materials related to the topic selected from the rich holdings of both institutions with curatorial and academic scholars working in the field. The workshop
is open to graduate students from a variety of disciplines whose work would benefit from participation in this collaborative exploration of the topic.
Prospects of
Empire (http://www.library.yale.edu/walpole/programs/exhibitions.html#ce)
is curated by Heather Vermeulen, Doctoral Candidate in African American Studies and American Studies, Yale University, and Hazel V. Carby, Charles C. & Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of African American Studies and Professor of American Studies, Yale University.
The exhibition explores the notion of empire’s “prospects”—its gaze upon bodies and landscapes, its speculations and desires, its endeavors to capitalize upon seized land and labor, as well as its failures to manage enslaved persons and unruly colonial ecologies.
For further exhibition details, please click here.
The workshop will take place at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, and the Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington and will offer exhibition walk-throughs with the curators
of each exhibition, and additional presentations and conversation in a study room setting. Lead discussants for the workshop will be Gillian Forrester, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, Yale Center for British Art, and Dian Kriz, Professor Emerita, Art
History, Brown University. Additional participating scholars working in the field include Paul Grant Costa, Executive Editor, Yale Indian Papers Project, and Marisa Fuentes, Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies and History, Rutgers University.
The program will also include a talk at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday at the Yale Art School by artist Fred Wilson, whose groundbreaking project Mining the Museum (1992-93) at the
Maryland Historical Society initiated his ongoing critique of the ways in which museums consciously or unwittingly reinforce racist beliefs and behavior, followed by a walk-through of Figures of Empire with the artist at 4:00 p.m.
Participants will be provided with accommodations at the Lewis Walpole Library guest house in Farmington, Connecticut. Shuttle transportation between Farmington and New Haven will be provided. A syllabus and list
of readings will be provided in advance of the workshop.
Application Procedures:
Applications must be submitted electronically. Please include a CV and a brief statement (of no more than one page) outlining how your research interests intersect with the focus
of this workshop and what benefits you expect from participating.
Applications and questions about content, organization or practicalities of the workshop should be emailed to:
Space is limited. The deadline for receipt of applications is Monday, 1 December 2014.
______________________
Susan Odell Walker
Head of Public Services
The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University
154 Main Street
PO Box 1408 Farmington CT 06034
T: 860-677-2140 F: 860-677-6369