Talk by Dr. Giorgio Riello, "The Asian Origins of Global Capitalism: European Factories in the Indian Ocean, 1500-1800"
Tues., October 21, 5-6:30 pm
Join us for a talk by Professor Giorgio Riello, Professor of Early Modern Global History at the European University Institute. As traditionally defined, “factories” were commercial outposts established by the Carreira de índia and the European chartered companies in Africa and Asia. In the period 1500 to 1800, around 200 such factories were constructed across the Indian Ocean and China Sea. This lecture considers there function as units for commodity storage, accounting, procurement, retailing, exporting, information gathering, and military defense. It contextualizes the role that factories played in histories of early modern capitalism.
Talk by Dr. Brooke Newman, "The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery in the Americas"
Wed., October 29, 5:00-6:30 pm
Join Professor Newman for a gripping preview of her upcoming book, The Crown’s Silence, which uncovers the British monarchy’s deep entanglement in the transatlantic slave trade and colonial slavery. Spanning four centuries of royal investment, profit, and complicity—from the Tudors to Queen Victoria—she reveals how the Crown helped build an Atlantic slave empire off the backs of millions of enslaved Africans. The lecture will be held in Tribble Hall’s DeTamble Auditorium on Wednesday, October 29 at 5pm.
This talk is sponsored by the History Department, the Humanities Institute, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.