VCU Symposium Examines The Transatlantic African Slave Trade

By Mike Porter

The Alexandrian Society of the Department of History at Virginia Commonwealth University will sponsor a symposium to reflect on the history and legacy of the transatlantic African slave trade.

"Two Hundred Years Hence, 1807-2007: Abolition and Survival in the Atlantic World" takes place on Wednesday, March 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Student Commons Theater, 907 Floyd Ave.  The symposium includes scholarly discussions, poetry readings, music and an African drumming performance, all of which are free and open to the public.

Participating scholars include:

• Philip Schwarz, Ph.D., VCU, professor emeritus, Department of History, will discuss the trade of enslaved Africans in Virginia.

• Bernard Moitt, Ph.D., VCU, chair, Department of History, will speak about woman, children and slavery in Africa and the African Diaspora.

• Norrece Jones, Ph.D., VCU, Department of History, will discuss African American history and slavery in North America.

• Njeri M. Jackson, Ph.D., VCU, chair, Department of African American Studies, will deliver a poetry reading.

• Michael Blakey, Ph.D., The College of William and Mary, National Endowment of the Humanities Professor of Anthropology, will discuss biological anthropology, biohistory and skeletal biology in North America and the African Diaspora.

• Frederick Smith, Ph.D., The College of William and Mary, Department of Anthropology, will speak about British colonialism and urban slave life in the Caribbean.

• Joseph Miller, Ph.D., University of Virginia, Thomas Cary Johnson Professor of History, will discuss Southern Africa, world slavery and slavery as a historical process.

• Selwyn Carrington, Ph.D., Howard University, Department of History, will discuss Caribbean history, the African Diaspora, and United States history.

• Karol Weaver, Ph.D., Susquehanna University, Department of History, will address gender, medicine and slavery.

• Autumn Barrett, Ph.D., student, The College of William and Mary, Department of Anthropology, will discuss slavery and resistance in Virginia and Brazil.

For more information, contact Ben Sims, president of the Alexandrian Society at 804-304-2301 or thealexandriansociety@yahoo.com.