The John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has recently launched the From Slavery to Freedom Lab. According to its website, the new lab will “examine the life and afterlives of slavery and emancipation, linking Duke University to the Global South.”
The lab will provide Duke students with the opportunity to build relationships with other Duke programs, as well as local sites with connections to slavery. Additionally, the lab will conduct projects that trace local and regional histories to the Caribbean, South America, and West Africa.
Richard J. Powell, Jasmine Nichole Cobb, and Lamonte Aidoo will co-direct the new lab. Dr. Aidoo stated, “The vestiges of slavery are yet present, and we envision our lab as a space to reflect collectively not only on its enduring impact as an institution, but think critically on how the legacies of resistance throughout the African Diaspora might help us to work toward liberation, inclusion, and social justice in the present.”
