About Us

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
– Dr Maya Angelou

EUROTAST is an interdisciplinary research project exploring the history and contemporary legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Through a network of 13 PhD projects, our research is using state of the art technology to reconstruct demographic and genetic links between Africa and the transatlantic diaspora; and to better understand African life cycles and experiences under slavery through bio-archaeology. We are also addressing the ways in which this history is negotiated and memorialized today, though ritual, heritage tourism and DNA ancestry testing. Working collaboratively under a holistic Marie Curie training model, we hope to further deepen academic research and public understanding of this traumatic episode in human history.

The Network
Our Pan-European network comprises ten academic partners and one industrial partner and involves leading international researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including some that are not traditionally associated with slave trade research, such as genetics. By bringing in experts from these various fields – conducting research in Africa, North America, South America and the Caribbean – we hope to develop new data that will add to our knowledge of how the slave trade operated and addresses its impact on the population histories of the world.

Training
The diversity of the EUROTAST network in terms of discipline and levels of prior exposure to this history, offers critical opportunities for learning and professional development. We have a unique opportunity to deliver a training package that will encourage interdisciplinary thinking and help to bridge the gap between the sciences and humanities. Through a programme of themed symposia, coupled with critical workshops in professional development skills, our fellows will share research experiences and collectively examine and question the cultural, socio-political and ethical framework underpinning their work in this field.

Dissemination and Outreach
EUROTAST aims to illustrate the outcomes and explore the implications of its research in engagement with wider audiences, particularly in partner and international stakeholder locations. We will be facilitating a variety of dissemination and outreach initiatives, developed by the network’s two successive postdoctoral fellows.

Network Structure
EUROTAST is an inherently collaborative network engaging with a variety of international organisations and stakeholders. The following diagram provides an overview of how we are structured: