Dr Stephen Small
19 July 2010
Dr Stephen Small has been named professor by special appointment of the Dutch History of Slavery and its Legacy at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).
Dr Stephen Small (1960) has been named professor by special appointment of the Dutch History of Slavery and its Legacy at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The chair was designated on behalf of the National Institute of the Dutch History of Slavery and its Legacy Foundation (NiNsee). The NiNsee studies and commemorates the Dutch History of Slavery and its Legacy to ensure that this continues to be acknowledged as a part of the common history of all Dutch citizens.
Stephen Small will study recent expressions of the legacy of slavery as well as the commemoration of and monuments to slavery in the Netherlands. He will study the establishment and development of existing monuments, memorials, exhibitions and museums in specific cities and countries. Small will also explore the primary places where black communities have commemorated slavery - in churches, social organisations, during carnivals, festivals and parades, as well as in the more diverse fields of music, creative writing and art. He will examine the origin and the range of such expressions, also focusing attention on the role of gender and ethnicity, on the groups involved in establishing and managing these commemorative activities and expressions and on the impact that the expressions have on the various communities.
Small's disciplinary approach is based on the study of history, but it also involves the multidisciplinary area of Afro-American studies, African Diaspora studies and cultural studies. His primary focus is on the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands, but he aims to conceptualise this legacy as a part of an indissoluble link between the metropolis and its colonies.
Small is senior university lecturer in Afro-American studies and deputy director of the Institute for International Studies at the University of California in Berkeley. From 2004 to 2007, he was chairman of the Afro-American studies department. Before his appointment at Berkeley in 1995, Small taught History and Sociology at the University of Massachusetts and at the universities of Warwick and Leicester in the UK. He was a guest researcher at the universities of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bahia (Brazil) and Harare (Zimbabwe).
Stephen Small will study recent expressions of the legacy of slavery as well as the commemoration of and monuments to slavery in the Netherlands. He will study the establishment and development of existing monuments, memorials, exhibitions and museums in specific cities and countries. Small will also explore the primary places where black communities have commemorated slavery - in churches, social organisations, during carnivals, festivals and parades, as well as in the more diverse fields of music, creative writing and art. He will examine the origin and the range of such expressions, also focusing attention on the role of gender and ethnicity, on the groups involved in establishing and managing these commemorative activities and expressions and on the impact that the expressions have on the various communities.
Small's disciplinary approach is based on the study of history, but it also involves the multidisciplinary area of Afro-American studies, African Diaspora studies and cultural studies. His primary focus is on the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands, but he aims to conceptualise this legacy as a part of an indissoluble link between the metropolis and its colonies.
Small is senior university lecturer in Afro-American studies and deputy director of the Institute for International Studies at the University of California in Berkeley. From 2004 to 2007, he was chairman of the Afro-American studies department. Before his appointment at Berkeley in 1995, Small taught History and Sociology at the University of Massachusetts and at the universities of Warwick and Leicester in the UK. He was a guest researcher at the universities of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bahia (Brazil) and Harare (Zimbabwe).