Advisory Panel Member - Cotton and Transatlantic Slavery
| Posting date: | 16 May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Part time |
| Closing date: | 13 June 2025 |
| Location: | Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 4FP |
| Company: | Science Museum Group |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | SMG03195_1747406212 |
Summary
Advisory Panel - Manchester, Cotton and Transatlantic Slavery
Join an Advisory Panel at the Science and Industry Museum to help us shape a major new project exploring Manchester, cotton and transatlantic slavery.
Are you interested in telling inclusive stories about Manchester and its industrial history? Can you commit to attending six meetings with the Science and Industry Museum and our partner The Scott Trust over the next two to three years?
We are currently looking for two members to join the Manchester, Cotton and Transatlantic Slavery Public Programme's Advisory Panel, and are keen to hear from individuals who can support us on the development of this major new project.
By offering your insight, experience, and perspectives, you will help the museum develop an exhibition and events programme that shares a more inclusive history of a city which prides itself on being at the forefront of ideas that change the world. You will support us to ensure the project has a lasting impact on how the people of Manchester make sense of these complex, shared histories.
About the panel
The Advisory Panel is a small group of experts who will advise on the development of a major special exhibition, schools and events programme about Manchester, cotton and transatlantic slavery, which will launch in 2027 at the Science and Industry Museum. Some of the panel members have been approached directly by us due to their known expertise and experience.
The project, which will be delivered in partnership with the Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement Programme, will reveal how transatlantic slavery underpinned Manchester's cotton industry and shaped its growth into the world's first industrial city. It will also explore how the legacies of these histories continue to impact the city, the world, and lives today. The Manchester, Cotton and Transatlantic Slavery project will deliver a step change in the way the museum researches and interprets transatlantic slavery in connection to its museum collections and historic railway site.
The project feeds into work happening across the Science Museum Group (SMG) to make our collections and stories more inclusive, in line with our organisational value to be Open for All. It builds on the Global Threads and Cotton Connections projects, which are part of ongoing work to research and share more about Manchester's textiles industry and its links to colonialism and enslavement.
African descendent and diaspora communities will be closely involved in the exhibition and programme's development, through collaborations with academic, creative and community partners. Content and storytelling will centre the lives of the enslaved and explore the ongoing impacts of transatlantic slavery for African descendent and diaspora communities today.
In addition to the Advisory Panel, we are also establishing a Collaborators' Circle as a working group which provides a vital extension of the exhibition's Content Team, working closely with them to shape elements of the exhibition and public programme of events and activities. Members of the group will represent a range of Manchester-based community partners, working both with and for Black communities. Two members of the Collaborator Circle will also attend the Advisory Panel.
We have two places available on the Advisory Panel, and we are looking for a young person aged 18-25 to fill at least one of the places.
About you
As an Advisory Panel Member, you will hold expertise or experience in one (or more) of the following areas:
- Socially engaged work with communities, ideally with Black African and/or Caribbean communities in Manchester, including anti-racism or social justice work.
- Researching the history and legacies of transatlantic slavery, ideally in relation to Manchester, the United States, the Caribbean or Brazil.
- The connections between science, technology and transatlantic slavery and its legacies.
- The development of formal or informal learning programmes about transatlantic slavery or Black history and knowledge or suggestions of how this can connect to the National Curriculum.
- Artistic or creative practice relating to the exploration of transatlantic slavery or Black history.
Given the focus of this project, we would particularly welcome applications from people of Black, Black British, African or Caribbean background, who are currently underrepresented in our organisation. We also particularly invite applications from young people aged 18-25, with one space reserved for them.
How to apply
View the Information Pack listed under 'Attachments' on the vacancy listing on our website for more details about the opportunity and the application process or click 'Apply Online' to submit an application.
You can also view the Terms of Reference document for more detail about the Advisory Panel and, how it works.
We are holding an information session about the opportunity on 29 May (information within the Information Pack).
The closing date is 11pm 11 June 2025