What is WISE?
(The Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and
Emancipation)
The Ambition
Slavery and the social injustices associated with it are as real
today as they were 200 years ago, when William Wilberforce led the
movement which ended the British slave trade in 1807.
The Emancipation Movement still has unfinished business.
The University of Hull has established a research institute to
address this critical issue for the 21st century. It builds on its
world-class reputation for research into the history of slavery and
emancipation, and its association with the world’s first
Professorship in Social Justice.
The Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and
Emancipation (WISE) is located in a listed Victorian building in
the historic Old Town in Hull’s city centre. It is next to
Wilberforce House, Wilberforce’s birthplace and itself the subject
of a forthcoming World Heritage Site application.
We are proud that Hull City Council and the regional development
agency Yorkshire Forward, with Cityventure, have contributed to
refurbish Oriel Chambers as the venue for WISE.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Patron of WISE
WISE will pursue research and learning shedding new light on
slavery and its modern human rights resonances. Its three themes
will be:
- The past in the present
- Movement and identity
- Boundaries of freedom and coercion
Academics at WISE will assemble, analyse and disseminate data
related to slavery and emancipation, past and present, and in doing
so will draw up on the latest available technology.