Ali Bennett
@alibennett.bsky.social
Art Historian at University of Oxford. Interests = material culture, collecting, gift exchange & the ivory trade in East Africa and the British empire
Reposted by Ali Bennett
The first volume of the Special Issue on Global Economic History @rhi-ihr.bsky.social is now out! It features 4 new articles on 4 commodities in global economic history - salt, ivory, raw cotton, and finished cotton goods - all open access. It was a great experience editing this volume!
Vol. 34 No. 95 (2025) of @rhi-ihr.bsky.social is out! The first instalment of New Perspectives in Global Economic History, edited by @alkaraman.bsky.social, shows how commodity based economic history reveals global interconnections and rethinks long-term development. revistes.ub.edu/index.php/Hi...
November 19, 2025 at 11:05 AM
The first volume of the Special Issue on Global Economic History @rhi-ihr.bsky.social is now out! It features 4 new articles on 4 commodities in global economic history - salt, ivory, raw cotton, and finished cotton goods - all open access. It was a great experience editing this volume!
Very pleased to have published this new article entitled ‘Port labour, global commodities, and material skill development: A study of the ivory warehouse in the Port of London and its representation c. 1860-1968’ with @rhi-ihr.bsky.social. Huge thanks go to @alkaraman.bsky.social as special editor!
November 18, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Very pleased to have published this new article entitled ‘Port labour, global commodities, and material skill development: A study of the ivory warehouse in the Port of London and its representation c. 1860-1968’ with @rhi-ihr.bsky.social. Huge thanks go to @alkaraman.bsky.social as special editor!
Reposted by Ali Bennett
We are very pleased to be working with @ihr.bsky.social and @findmypast.bsky.social on this new Applied History Fellowship programme.
The launch event on Weds 19 November bit.ly/49vcgCS provides further details of the scheme and how to apply #Skystorians
The launch event on Weds 19 November bit.ly/49vcgCS provides further details of the scheme and how to apply #Skystorians
October 28, 2025 at 12:33 PM
We are very pleased to be working with @ihr.bsky.social and @findmypast.bsky.social on this new Applied History Fellowship programme.
The launch event on Weds 19 November bit.ly/49vcgCS provides further details of the scheme and how to apply #Skystorians
The launch event on Weds 19 November bit.ly/49vcgCS provides further details of the scheme and how to apply #Skystorians
On flags and ‘patriotism’ in Kent right now 😩 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10...
Access Restricted
www.telegraph.co.uk
October 10, 2025 at 11:05 AM
On flags and ‘patriotism’ in Kent right now 😩 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Fascinating article by Nuala Zahedieh about the centrality of canoes in early colonial exploitation 🗃️https://academic.oup.com/past/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pastj/gtaf021/8231030
Canoes in the Early English Caribbean: The Role of an Indigenous Technology in Making Mercantilism Work*
Abstract. The Caribbean, with its focus on cash crop production, played a major role in the rise of England’s Atlantic trading system and the making of mod
academic.oup.com
August 13, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Fascinating article by Nuala Zahedieh about the centrality of canoes in early colonial exploitation 🗃️https://academic.oup.com/past/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pastj/gtaf021/8231030
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Over 90% of the world's museum collections are locked away in storage. Not anymore.
UofG’s Museums in the Metaverse is bringing hidden treasures to life through 3D technology.
Sign up to be first to hear about the beta launch www.gla.ac.uk/mim
UofG’s Museums in the Metaverse is bringing hidden treasures to life through 3D technology.
Sign up to be first to hear about the beta launch www.gla.ac.uk/mim
July 9, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Over 90% of the world's museum collections are locked away in storage. Not anymore.
UofG’s Museums in the Metaverse is bringing hidden treasures to life through 3D technology.
Sign up to be first to hear about the beta launch www.gla.ac.uk/mim
UofG’s Museums in the Metaverse is bringing hidden treasures to life through 3D technology.
Sign up to be first to hear about the beta launch www.gla.ac.uk/mim
Reposted by Ali Bennett
After my annual summer break, I'm back with a new series on teaching East Africa in world history. This first post is free and introduces some resources and themes we can use when teaching East Africa.
🗺️🗃️
www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-mixed-popu...
🗺️🗃️
www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-mixed-popu...
“A Mixed Population of Muslims and Zanj”: Teaching East Africa in World History, c.1000 to Present
Discussion of teaching East Africa Africa in World History
www.liberatingnarratives.com
July 26, 2025 at 7:06 PM
After my annual summer break, I'm back with a new series on teaching East Africa in world history. This first post is free and introduces some resources and themes we can use when teaching East Africa.
🗺️🗃️
www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-mixed-popu...
🗺️🗃️
www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-mixed-popu...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Two years later, it still feels surreal that I had the (quite literally) once-in-a-lifetime honour of giving a keynote at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds.
Turning that talk into an essay—whose proofs arrived today—is just the icing on the absurdity cake.
Turning that talk into an essay—whose proofs arrived today—is just the icing on the absurdity cake.
February 20, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Two years later, it still feels surreal that I had the (quite literally) once-in-a-lifetime honour of giving a keynote at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds.
Turning that talk into an essay—whose proofs arrived today—is just the icing on the absurdity cake.
Turning that talk into an essay—whose proofs arrived today—is just the icing on the absurdity cake.
Reposted by Ali Bennett
With it being #WorldElephantDay #ElephantDay we just had to post a photo of the Seal of the borough of Pwllheli featuring an elephant and castle, as it appears on the ceiling of the wonderful Shankland Reading Room here at Bangor University.
August 12, 2025 at 11:22 AM
With it being #WorldElephantDay #ElephantDay we just had to post a photo of the Seal of the borough of Pwllheli featuring an elephant and castle, as it appears on the ceiling of the wonderful Shankland Reading Room here at Bangor University.
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Today is #ElephantDay! Enjoy these illustrations of the largest living land animals from our collections. The first is from C. d’Orbigny's, 'Dictionnaire universel d’histoire naturelle', 1847, and the second from B. Hawkins's, 'A comparative view of the human and animal frame', 1860.
August 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Today is #ElephantDay! Enjoy these illustrations of the largest living land animals from our collections. The first is from C. d’Orbigny's, 'Dictionnaire universel d’histoire naturelle', 1847, and the second from B. Hawkins's, 'A comparative view of the human and animal frame', 1860.
Reposted by Ali Bennett
A bit of good news from the Yale University Art Gallery. www.nhregister.com/connecticut/...
Yale Art Gallery abandons plans for federal grants over anti-DEI rules, funds African exhibit itself
"We have a world-spanning collection of art, and it is our mission to represent a diversity of cultures," a Yale Art Gallery spokesman said.
www.nhregister.com
July 17, 2025 at 1:54 AM
A bit of good news from the Yale University Art Gallery. www.nhregister.com/connecticut/...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Our latest @jich.bsky.social 'Current Debate' essay entitled 'Trump and the Commonwealth' is now #OpenAccess for a limited time. The journal's former editor Professor Philip Murphy offers some compelling commentary on the US president's ambition of joining the Commonwealth.
doi.org/10.1080/0308...
doi.org/10.1080/0308...
Trump and the Commonwealth
Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2025)
doi.org
May 12, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Our latest @jich.bsky.social 'Current Debate' essay entitled 'Trump and the Commonwealth' is now #OpenAccess for a limited time. The journal's former editor Professor Philip Murphy offers some compelling commentary on the US president's ambition of joining the Commonwealth.
doi.org/10.1080/0308...
doi.org/10.1080/0308...
If you find yourself in the Margate area, do check out the Powell-Cotton Museum’s redisplay of some of its East African Collections. Especially useful for those interested in missionary collecting but also a new focus on Ugandan figures- not just the solitary British missionary ‘expert’ or explorer
April 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
If you find yourself in the Margate area, do check out the Powell-Cotton Museum’s redisplay of some of its East African Collections. Especially useful for those interested in missionary collecting but also a new focus on Ugandan figures- not just the solitary British missionary ‘expert’ or explorer
Reposted by Ali Bennett
How might ships change the way we understand migration policy in postwar Britain and its empire? My new article in @jbritishstudies.bsky.social
offers an answer to that question. Here's a thread to hopefully pique your interest and maybe get you to read it 🧵🚢
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
offers an answer to that question. Here's a thread to hopefully pique your interest and maybe get you to read it 🧵🚢
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
February 18, 2025 at 12:50 PM
How might ships change the way we understand migration policy in postwar Britain and its empire? My new article in @jbritishstudies.bsky.social
offers an answer to that question. Here's a thread to hopefully pique your interest and maybe get you to read it 🧵🚢
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
offers an answer to that question. Here's a thread to hopefully pique your interest and maybe get you to read it 🧵🚢
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
So excited to see ‘Faith in the Town’ (co-authored my me, @kategibson Jeremy Gregory and Carys Brown & published in Open Access form (free to read) today by @oxfordunipress.bsky.social. Want to know how religious faith was woven through urban life in northern English towns 1740-1830? Then read on …
Faith in the Town: Lay Religion in Northern England, 1740–1830
Abstract. Faith in the Town explores the ways in which religious faith affected the lives of men, women, and children in the increasingly urban and industr
academic.oup.com
February 28, 2025 at 10:17 AM
So excited to see ‘Faith in the Town’ (co-authored my me, @kategibson Jeremy Gregory and Carys Brown & published in Open Access form (free to read) today by @oxfordunipress.bsky.social. Want to know how religious faith was woven through urban life in northern English towns 1740-1830? Then read on …
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Manchester have posted 14 more postdoc positions in 'SHAPE' disciplines - 4x simon fellowships and 10(!) hallsworth fellowships. Simon eligibility is 'within 4 years of PhD award', except career breaks
www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/research/fun...
Happy to discuss these via email
www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/research/fun...
Happy to discuss these via email
Simon and Hallsworth Fellowships | Faculty of Humanities | The University of Manchester
Find out the Simon and Hallsworth Fellowships at Manchester, our Faculty of Humanities funding scheme for early career researchers with a doctoral degree.
www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk
February 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Manchester have posted 14 more postdoc positions in 'SHAPE' disciplines - 4x simon fellowships and 10(!) hallsworth fellowships. Simon eligibility is 'within 4 years of PhD award', except career breaks
www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/research/fun...
Happy to discuss these via email
www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/research/fun...
Happy to discuss these via email
Such excellent and important work, @zoecormack.bsky.social and team!
#History #Skystorians #History&IR New article drop! Zoe Cormack on 'The British Museum and the Abyssinian Campaign, 1867-8', doi.org/10.1111/1468.... OA
January 21, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Such excellent and important work, @zoecormack.bsky.social and team!
Reposted by Ali Bennett
A piece of Ethiopia's Maqdala plunder comes under the spotlight
A diptych linking Dürer and Christian Ethiopia likely taken from Portugal to Ethiopia by Jesuit missionaries. Quotes @zoecormack.bsky.social @alulapankhurst.bsky.social @krebsverena.bsky.social www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/21/i...
A diptych linking Dürer and Christian Ethiopia likely taken from Portugal to Ethiopia by Jesuit missionaries. Quotes @zoecormack.bsky.social @alulapankhurst.bsky.social @krebsverena.bsky.social www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/21/i...
Investigation shines fresh light on British Museum’s looted, Dürer-inspired diptych
The piece, one side of which is an enamel copy of a 16th-century woodcut, the other side crafted in Ethiopia, reveals how European icons became incorporated into the African country’s traditions
www.theartnewspaper.com
January 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM
A piece of Ethiopia's Maqdala plunder comes under the spotlight
A diptych linking Dürer and Christian Ethiopia likely taken from Portugal to Ethiopia by Jesuit missionaries. Quotes @zoecormack.bsky.social @alulapankhurst.bsky.social @krebsverena.bsky.social www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/21/i...
A diptych linking Dürer and Christian Ethiopia likely taken from Portugal to Ethiopia by Jesuit missionaries. Quotes @zoecormack.bsky.social @alulapankhurst.bsky.social @krebsverena.bsky.social www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/01/21/i...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Are you a postdoctoral (or equivalent) researcher in the UK within c. 10 years of your PhD? If so, the @britishacademy.bsky.social 's Early Career Research Network (ECRN) is designed & funded for you. North West & North Wales cluster is now live. 1/2 www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/early-c...
January 15, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Are you a postdoctoral (or equivalent) researcher in the UK within c. 10 years of your PhD? If so, the @britishacademy.bsky.social 's Early Career Research Network (ECRN) is designed & funded for you. North West & North Wales cluster is now live. 1/2 www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/early-c...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Call for papers for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures International Conference @portsmouthuni, 10-11 June 2025. Submit your 300-word abstract by 19 January 2025 to pcmc@port.ac.uk for @UoP_Maritime's inaugural conference
www.port.ac.uk/news-events-...
Call for Papers: Port Cities and Maritime Cultures International Conference, 10-11 June 2025
The Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures is holding its inaugural conference (10-11 June 2025) at the University of Portsmouth.
www.port.ac.uk
November 21, 2024 at 7:48 PM
Call for papers for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures International Conference @portsmouthuni, 10-11 June 2025. Submit your 300-word abstract by 19 January 2025 to pcmc@port.ac.uk for @UoP_Maritime's inaugural conference
www.port.ac.uk/news-events-...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
The German Maritime Museum invites applications for 3-9 month-long fellowships to work on interdisciplinary object-based research focussing on the cultural & political significance of the relationship between humans and the sea. Deadline 31 January 2025. More info: www.museumsbund.de/stellenangeb...
Global Connectivity in Maritime Perspective – International Fellowships DSM 2025 | Deutscher Museumsbund e.V.
Do you also think that the global impact of our relationship with the sea has so far been little addressed? The German Maritime Museum, Leibniz Institute for Maritime History (DSM) offers you the oppo...
www.museumsbund.de
January 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
The German Maritime Museum invites applications for 3-9 month-long fellowships to work on interdisciplinary object-based research focussing on the cultural & political significance of the relationship between humans and the sea. Deadline 31 January 2025. More info: www.museumsbund.de/stellenangeb...
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Ruling the World argued that governance of the British Empire should be examined everywhere & all at once. For example, the decision to make the East India Company sovereign and the Act Abolishing slavery in the Caribbean are usually examined in isolation, but they were directly connected:
January 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Ruling the World argued that governance of the British Empire should be examined everywhere & all at once. For example, the decision to make the East India Company sovereign and the Act Abolishing slavery in the Caribbean are usually examined in isolation, but they were directly connected:
Reposted by Ali Bennett
Very pleased to share that my first article is now online www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Curzon’s cases: making a museum at Kedleston Hall
In 1916 Lord Curzon inherited his ancestral home, Kedleston Hall, and set about planning its renovation. Part of this work was the creation of a new museum in which to display his collection of ‘Ea...
www.tandfonline.com
November 26, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Very pleased to share that my first article is now online www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Interested in the histories of material culture, museums, and/or East Africa? Our recent conference supported by @britishacademy.bsky.social & @paulmelloncentr.bsky.social is now available to view:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Zz... [youtube.com]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMVf... [youtube.com]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Zz... [youtube.com]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMVf... [youtube.com]
Material Cultures of Eastern Africa - conference day one
YouTube video by The British Academy
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2024 at 1:14 PM
Interested in the histories of material culture, museums, and/or East Africa? Our recent conference supported by @britishacademy.bsky.social & @paulmelloncentr.bsky.social is now available to view:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Zz... [youtube.com]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMVf... [youtube.com]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Zz... [youtube.com]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMVf... [youtube.com]
Reposted by Ali Bennett
carpet appreciation post
Holbein, one of the most gifted painters who ever lived, has painted the items with characteristic brilliance. Look closely at the carpet, and your brain struggles to understand that’s not a real carpet. This was an age when believing (that is, religion) had usually meant seeing.
5/
5/
December 18, 2024 at 10:29 AM
carpet appreciation post