Ireland and Atlantic Slavery symposium

Mural of Fredrick Douglass

Georgetown University’s Global Irish Studies Initiative, in association with the Center for the Study of Slavery and the Humanities Initiative, presents:

Ireland and Atlantic Slavery symposium

This symposium occurred on Friday, April 11, 2025 from 10:00 – 17:00 EDT in the Humanities Conference Room, Room 205, Old North, Hilltop Campus.

The Georgetown University Global Irish Studies Initiative, in collaboration with the GU Center for the Study of Slavery and GU Humanities Initiative, is proud to convene a major international academic symposium on ‘Ireland and Atlantic Slavery’. Bringing together scholars from Ireland, Canada, Cuba, the United Kingdom, and the United States, this symposium will explore the historic experiences, and commemorative legacies, which have denoted Irish engagement with slavery across the Atlantic. This symposium is supported by generous funding from Georgetown University’s Office of Global Engagement.

View Speaker Biographies

Schedule

Opening Remarks, 10:00 – 10:15

Click here for recording of remarks from Prof. Mary McAleese

Prof. Darragh Gannon, Associate Director of Georgetown University Global Irish Studies Initiative; Prof. Adam Rothman, Director of the Georgetown University Center for the Study of Slavery; and Prof. Mary McAleese, Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin

Part I

Universities Studying Slavery Roundtable, 10:15 – 11:15

Click here for recording of Panel 1

Panelists: Prof. David Collins, S.J., Associate Professor of History (Georgetown University); Prof. Maurice Jackson, Associate Professor of History/African American Studies (Georgetown University); Prof. Ciaran O’Neill, Ussher Associate Professor in Nineteenth-Century History (Trinity College Dublin); Prof. Patrick Walsh, Assistant Professor in Eighteenth-Century Irish History (Trinity College Dublin).

Break, 11:15 – 11:30

Part II

Cultural Interlude, 11:30 – 13:00

Click here for recording of virtual walking tour

Historic walking tour of Georgetown University led by Prof. Adam Rothman (Georgetown University).

Curated guide to the Georgetown University collection on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation at the GU Lauinger Library Booth Family Center for Special Collections led by Dr. Mary Beth Corrigan, Librarian for Collections on Slavery, Memory, and Reconcilliation (Georgetown University).

Lunch, 13:00 – 14:00

Part III

The Black and Green Atlantic – New Voices Workshop (via Zoom), 14:00 – 15:00

Click here for recording of Panel 3

Panelists: Giselle González García, Ph.D. candidate (Concordia University); Dr. Catherine Healy, DFA Historian-in-Residence (EPIC Irish Emigration Museum); Dr. Mobeen Hussain, Wellcome Trust Early Career Research Fellow (University of York); and Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey, Assistant Professor of History (Mary Immaculate College).

Break, 15:00 – 15:15

Part IV

Reading Race Across the Atlantic, 15:15 – 16:15

Fireside chat with Prof. Patrick O’Malley, Professor of English (Georgetown University) and Prof. Shirley Lau Wong, Assistant Professor of English.

Part V

Ireland and Atlantic Slavery – Future Directions Forum, 16:15 – 17:00

All symposium participants and attendees.

Post-Symposium Cultural Performance

Solas Nua will be hosting a play reading of “The Frederick Douglass Project,” as well as a post-show discussion with playwright Psalmayene 24 and director Raymon Caldwell.

Join us after the symposium from 19:00 – 21:00 EST at The Fillmore School, 1801 35th NW (15-minute walk from campus). Reservations are free and required.

In association with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics (Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Department of Performing Arts).