Histories of Slavery, Freedom & the Law

This conference brings together historians who study legal and social processes that shaped enslavement and struggles for freedom and citizenship rights within and beyond the Americas. Panelists will present their own research and reflections on ways in which their work engages the scholarship of Rebecca Scott, with whom they studied. Senior historians who have collaborated with Professor Scott at various points in their careers serve as discussants, keynote speaker, and chairs of the panels. The conference showcases the broad-ranging historical scholarship that originated in collaborative projects at the University of Michigan and in conjunction with the mentorship of Professor Scott, Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Law, emerita, and her U-M colleagues.

This conference will be held in Ann Arbor, in conjunction with the UM Law School’s co-hosting of the annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History, which takes place in Detroit in the days that follow (ASLH 2025 is held November 14-15).

Program:

Wednesday, November 12
Hutchins Hall
4:00-5:30 Keynote address featuring Professor Ada Ferrer, Princeton University.
5:30-7:00 Reception

Thursday, November 13
1014 Tisch Hall
9:00-9:10: Welcome. Sueann Caulfield (Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
9:10-10:30: Panel 1: Dynamics of Emancipation
Chair: Malick Ghachem (Professor, MIT)
Panelist 1: Adriana Chira (Associate Professor, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.)
Panelist 2: Ana Maria Silva (Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Panelist 3: Tamara Walker (Associate Professor, Barnard College, New York, N.Y.)
Commentators: Aims McGuinness (Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz) & Michael Zeuske (Senior Researcher, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, Germany)

10:45-12:15: Panel 2: Degrees of Freedom in Postemancipation Societies
Chair: Neil Foley (Professor, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Tex.)
Panelist 1: Jarrett Drake (Assistant Professor, University of Buffalo, N.Y.)
Panelist 2: Daniel Varela Corredor (Doctoral candidate, University of Michigan (History and Anthropology), Ann Arbor)
Panelist 3: Edgardo Pérez Morales (Professor, National University of Colombia, Medellin)
Commentator: John Soluri (Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.)

1:45-3:15: Panel 3: Getting the Documents to Speak
Chair: Jean Hébrard (Emeritus, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris France)
Panelist 1: Andrew Walker (Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Panelist 2: Ángela Pérez-Villa (Assistant Professor, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Panelist 3: Edward Murphy (Associate Professor, Michigan State University, East Lansing)
Commentator: Laurent Dubois (Professor, University of Virginia, Charlottesville)

3:30-4:45: Panel 4: Peremptory Enslavement/Fragile Freedom
Chair: Thavolia Glymph (Professor, Duke University, Durham, N.C.)
Panelist 1: Lucas Koutsoukos-Chalhoub (Post-doctoral Fellow, Emory University)
Panelist 2: Pedro Cantisano (Assistant Professor, Law, Insper Institute of Education and Research, São Paulo, Brazil)
Commentator: Lara Putnam (Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Pa.)

4:45-5:00 Closing remarks, Sam Erman (Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)