An international conference on Centering Race in History: Antiquity to the Present was held online last week, co-sponsored by the Department of History and Civilization of the European University Institute, the International Centre on Racism at Edge Hill University, and Monitor Racism magazine.

The conference offered longue durée and comparative perspectives on the history of race and racism from antiquity to today. Presentations explored the history of race in ancient, medieval, early modern, modern, and contemporary contexts.

I was pleased to participate in the conference and to give a research presentation on race, violence, and slavery in the early modern Mediterranean world in a session on Early Modern Europe. My presentation, entitled “Against ‘Barbarous Dogs’ and ‘Rascals’: Race, Religion, and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World,” focused on French and Francophone sources on race and violence in the early modern Mediterranean. All of the papers in the session worked well together and produced an interesting discussion.

I thought that the entire conference was very stimulating and produced some intriguing interchanges in some of the sessions.

The Centering Race in History conference program is available on the Monitor Racism website.