On 25th February 2020, BSWN was delighted to host a talk with Professor Olivette Otele, Professor of History and Memory of Enslavement at the University of Bristol, at the St Paul’s Learning Centre in Bristol. This talk was organised with the support of the Centre for Black Humanities at the University of Bristol as part of a series of talks with renowned academics, in order to build knowledge and connection in the communities. Unfortunately, the Centre for Black Humanities is unable to join us on the evening due to industrial actions currently taking place.
As the talk very much centres on identity, history and heritage, our Cultural Inclusion team was especially delighted to host Dr Otele, as these are all foci of the Cultural inclusion work BSWN does in the region, especially through our Intangible Cultural Heritage Project. This project focusses on the intangible cultural heritage of the African Caribbean, African, and South Asian communities resident in the region, as well as institutions, museums and cultural organisations in the region in relation to decolonisation.
Professor Olivette Otele, who has recently started her post as Professor of History and Memory of Enslavement at the University of Bristol. Professor Otele’s appointment and research will explore and highlight details of Bristol’s and the university’s connections with slavery and she will be helping to keep the city’s conversation going, rather than hide from its past.
Professor Otele holds a PhD in History from the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris. She has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed academic publications and authored several books. Her research centres around transnational history and, in particular, the link between history, collective memory and geopolitics in relation to British and French colonial pasts. Her work explores how Britain and France have been addressing questions of citizenship, race and identity through the politics of remembrance. She also enquires into the value of public gestures, the meaning of public history and the impact of cultural memory and memorialisation processes in public spaces (museums, statues, etc.). More broadly she looks at the history and memories of people of African descent in Europe, Africa, America and Asia.
So why did Professor Otele chose to come to come to Bristol from her previous tenure at Bath Spa? “I wanted to work in Bristol. I chose Bristol. Because I wanted to see how you articulate history with memory. They are often separated but I see them as two sides of one coin. Many historians don't like that but that's how I see it. I wanted to demonstrate how it was done.”
On the topic of scholarly activism, Professor Otele invited the attendees to take an active part in change: “You can be both - a scholar and an activist. What matters is wherever you are in life and what difference you make for your community. Nothing is given to you, unless you push hard for it. We're pushing for curriculum change. We're pushing for more people of African and Caribbean descent to be at the University. And it's important to have allies who support us.”
The BSWN team and all of the event audience look forward to Professor Otele’s new upcoming upcoming publication, and to benefiting from her wisdom during her tenure in Bristol.
