The Trinity Long Room Hub Annual Humanities Horizons Lecture for 2019 delivered by Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Graduate Chair of Religious Studies.
Stories of Irish slavery on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms abound as both history and conspiracy theories that obscure the actual history of Irish indentured servitude and Black chattel slavery in America. These readings of history promoted by conspiracy theorists on social media platforms serve another purpose: to support white nationalist beliefs, oppose immigration, and even to denigrate religious traditions. For scholars not attuned to these conspiracy theories, these are trying times that put the teaching of history in tension with students, colleagues, religious institutions, and the state. Professor Butler’s lecture will engage these urgent issues, paying special attention to the relationship between Ireland and America on race, immigration, and religion, both past and present.
