Readdressing the University of Edinburgh African skull collections | Online

One of the largest anatomical collections in the UK is held by the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomical Museum, including human remains from across the world.

Specimens from the collections have been used to teach medical students for 300 years, though in most cases human remains were taken without consent through the British Empire’s colonial networks. Almost 200 of these specimens are skulls unethically brought from Africa to Edinburgh in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through British colonial activity. This talk is based on a recent project to research and improve documentation of the Anatomical Museum’s African skull collections as a basis for future repatriation requests.

Ash Charlton will share the stories of the individuals whose skulls are in the collection, joined by Malcolm MacCallum for Q&A, hosted by Omolabake Fakunle.

Come join the conversation around how we understand and readdress our collections with colonial legacies.

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Important points to note

• This event is suitable for age 16+

• Content warning: Please note that this event will include discussion of medical practices and human remains collected in the nineteenth century through unethical means, and will refer to some outdated historical terminology and language usage encountered during the research. Due to the nature of this topic, these subjects are central to understanding the significance of colonial collections and discussion of them is unavoidable, though must be treated appropriately and acknowledged as difficult topics.

SPEAKER

Ash Charlton

PhD Student & Africa Collections Researcher, University of Edinburgh

Ash is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, based in the History, Classics and Archaeology. She has recently been working with the University’s Anatomical Museum and Heritage Collections to research and improve documentation of individuals held in the Anatomy collection, investigating skulls taken from Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ash has worked in the heritage sector for several years and her PhD explores legacies of race and slavery in the early Encyclopaedia Britannica.

SPEAKER

Malcolm MacCallum

Anatomical Museum Curator, University of Edinburgh

Malcolm MacCallum is Curator and Researcher at the University of Edinburgh's Anatomical Museum and has worked in the heritage sector since 1996. He manages the curatorial team at the museum and the ongoing inventory project, carrying out research on the collections and curating the displays in the museum, working with colleagues in Anatomy as well as in Heritage Collections. Malcolm has been leading on recent repatriations of human remains from the Anatomical Museum.

CHAIR

Dr Omolabake Fakunle

Senior Lecturer and Chancellor's Fellow, University of Edinburgh

Following a 19-year professional career in accounting, auditing, banking and entrepreneurship, Labake moved to the UK in 2011 where she completed a BA (Hons) Business Admin (1st Class), MSc Educational Research, and her PhD in Education.Her research examines conceptualisations and enactment of inclusivity in internationalisation in educational policies and practices. She is interested in the connections between internationalisation, decoloniality, and employability.

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