The Department of History at Lancaster University is seeking to appoint one full-time Research Associate to work closely with the Project’s Principal Investigator, Professor William Pettigrew. They will join two further Research Associates on the project who will be based at the University of Manchester and UCL. These posts represent an opportunity for researchers to participate in a new AHRC-funded project entitled Legacies of the British Slave Trade: The Structures and Significance of British Investment in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, c. 1550-1807 (led by PI Prof William Pettigrew). The project will examine the economic, cultural, political, and physical legacies of individual slave-traders and create a comprehensive dataset as a basis for assessing the local, regional, and national imprints of Britain’s slave-trade.  Each of the three posts will formally be attached to one of the participating institutions, but successful candidates will be expected to work flexibly according to the needs of the entire project team. You will not need to live close to the host institution.  

The project will build on a universe of c. 8,000 slave-traders identified in Voyages: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database (and supplemented by lists of investors in in the slave trading companies). You will undertake archival, prosopographical, and bibliographic research relating to the business operations and commercial networks, cultural and philanthropic activities, and physical legacies of these individuals in the period from 1550 to 1807. It will involve extensive work on digital resources as well as archival work in port-cities and regional archives. You will have the opportunity to organize and participate in academic and policy orientated events, contribute to peer-reviewed academic outputs, and assist in public engagement and policy-development activities. You will also benefit from an ‘impact secondment’ with one of the non-academic institutions represented on the project’s stakeholder panel.

You must hold a PhD in History. 

You will join us on an indefinite contract however the project is linked to external funding which is due to expire on 30 September 2023.

Application Deadline: 19 August 2021

For more details on the role and to apply, visit:

https://hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=A3480