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Slavery North, an academic institute housed at UMass Amherst dedicated to the unyielding study of transatlantic slavery and its enduring legacies in the global North, will host its first international conference, “Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing During the American Revolution,” July 9-12 at Old Chapel. 

International delegates, academic peers, cultural advocates and members of the public are invited to the conference, which is led by UMass art historian and Provost Professor Charmaine A. Nelson. The conference will bring together world-renowned scholars, cultural preservationists, professors and students to dismantle historical systemic bottlenecks and illuminate suppressed histories. 

“The ‘Rebellion, Resistance and Refuge’ conference is not merely an academic gathering; it is a profound reclamation of historical space,” says Nelson, Slavery North’s founding director. “We are bringing together a global network of intellect to bridge the gap between rigorous archival histories and public cultural consciousness. By centering Black populations, we are asking how enslaved and free Black experiences, culture and resistance were transformed, on both sides of the 49th parallel, by the chaos of the Revolutionary War.”

Registration for the free conference is required by June 18. 

Over the course of four days, academic papers, panel discussions and keynote presentations will confront the historical realities of enslavement specifically within Canadian and northern contexts—regions historically marginalized or omitted by mainstream transatlantic discourse. 

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Keynote speakers will include Daniel J. Broyld, associate professor of African American history at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Richard Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland.  

Programming is designed to engage both institutional researchers and the broader public, offering critical frameworks for systemic critique, historical justice and cultural preservation.

Conference programming will be held at the Old Chapel from Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday, registrants may participate in self-guided exploration of regional exhibitions and cultural sites.

For more information, including schedule and registration details, visit the Slavery North conference website  or contact research assistant Lauren Brown at [email protected] or 413-545-2555.