We are very happy to announce that BCDSS Prof. Dr. Pia Wiegmink is part of a joint research project entitled „Unfreedom, Voices, Redress: Plantation Cultures of the Western Pacific“ that has been granted 882,000 AUSD by the Australian Research Council! Chief Investigators of the four-year project are Professor Penny Edmonds, of Flinders University, and Professor Deirdre Coleman, of University of Melbourne.  Professor Dr. Pia Wiegmink is Partner Investigator alongside Dr. Margaret Mishra (University of the South Pacific), Dr. Oliver Lueb (Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Cologne), and Ms Imelda Miller (Queensland Museum).

Prof. Dr. Michael Zeuske presents the history of enslaved people in Africa, the Atlantic, and the Americas, with a focus on Latin America and the early capitalist-slave societies such as Cuba, Brazil, and the United States, which were based on what is now known as "second slavery." It examines how this history connects to the emergence of the term "Afro," highlighting that, although often considered an American creation, it is, in fact, of Cuban origin.

Exhibition curator Dr. Beatrix Ihde-Hoffmann will give a short introduction - in German - to the current BCDSS exhibition, on display at the Bonn University and State Library - ULB - until 20 December 2024.

Marking the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (2 December), Henriette Rødland, Sean Kelley and Bahar Bayraktaroğlu will present their research perspectives on abolition at the University of Bonn's Dies Academicus on 4 December 2024 from 14:15 - 15:45.