Qualifications
2016 HEA (Associate Fellow)
2014-2018 The University of Manchester, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures PhD in History
Dissertation Title: Manchester and the British West Indies, 1700- 1833
2010 The University of Manchester
MA in History (Merit)
2004-2007 The University of Birmingham
2:1 History and English Literature
Employment and teaching experience
Mar. 2022-March 2024, Research Associate, UKRI Cottonopolis: lessons for environmental science through the hidden histories of Manchester.
Jan. 2022-May 2023, Teaching Assistant, University of Manchester, teaching American history, 1619-1877, American history 1865-1991, Jamestown to James Brown: African American History and Culture.
Sept. 2020-Dec 2021, Lecturer in History, London South Bank University, teaching Black British History, Industry Empire and Society, American Politics, and Rethinking History module.
Jan. 2020-May 2020, Teaching Assistant, University of Manchester, led courses on African American history and broader American history (1619-1877, 1865-1991), engaging with slavery, Reconstruction, and cultural developments.
Sept. 2018-Sept 2020, Associate Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University, teaching
American history, 1607-1861
Publications
‘Manchester antislavery, 1792-1807’, Slavery & Abolition (June 2020, published online 14 May 2019). (This article includes GIS maps and has received over 1,800 views)
‘Robert Peel and His Statue’ (to be published this year by Routledge as part of an edited chapter in Britan’s Contested Past)
‘Slavery & Cottonopolis: Manchester and the British West Indies, 1700-1838’ (Chapter proposal submitted to Manchester University Press in January 2026)
Research Papers
Robert Peel, slavery and his statue, research paper, Britain’s Contested Heritage, 2024.
Robert Peel and the British West Indies, research paper, Britain and the World, 2023.
‘#RepealPeel: The Case Against Robert Peel’, research paper, Long 19th century Symposium, [Manchester Metropolitan University], 2021.
‘Curious, but Eccentric Friends: James Watt Junior and Thomas Cooper During the Age of Enlightenment’, research paper, Rethinking James Watt Conference, [University of Birmingham],
2019.
‘Manchester and its Anti-Slavery Petitions, 1787-1806’, research paper, Transnational Cultures of Petitioning symposium, [University of Manchester], 2015.
Research impact and public engagement
2023 Researching the Guardian’s coverage of slavery and the cotton trade (‘Cotton Capital’ report published by the Guardian in April 2023) https://www.theguardian.com/news/nginteractive/2023/mar/29/from-the-archivethe19thcentury-guardian-views-on-slavery
2021 Researched LSBU’s links to slavery, the slave trade, and colonialism (15,000 words)
2017 Bittersweet Legacies of Slavery and Abolition in Manchester, Exhibition, Portico Library (my GIS maps were exhibited, and thousands of people viewed them)
2017 National Trust, Archival Research Assistant April 2017-December 2017 (This role included transcribing, categorising, and databasing primary source material)
Research Fellowships and Awards
2022 John Rylands Visiting Early Career Research Fellowship: ‘Intercolonial Exchanges: Slavery and the Environment in British Florida and Jamaica, 1763-1783.’
https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/about/ourpeople/institutestaff/intercolonialexchanges/
2020 Eccles Centre for American Studies (British Library) Visiting Fellowship (£2000).
2020 Subscription to Adam Matthew Digital through a Royal Historical Society funding award.
Public History and Impact
2023 My research formed a part of the Guardian’s Cotton Capital Series podcast (Episode 1)
2021 Human Resources podcast, episode 3 ‘Lords of the Manor (Robert Peel)’
2020 #RepealPeel statue campaign (I created this campaign, and the media coverage led to Manchester City Council to initiate a ‘statue review’ — I also created a website which has had thousands of unique visitors www.repealpeel.com)
Advanced research and IT skills
• Ability to use various software packages, including R, TEI, Tableau, ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Oxygen XML Editor, Adobe Photoshop, Neo4j, and TikiToki. Experienced in creating and maintaining websites, including WordPress, ArcGIS StoryMap, and other services.
Sami Pinarbasi 