A Virtual Visit from a Scholar

On the morning of Tuesday, November 16, Year 9 students at BSC, dressed in formal uniform, warmly greeted Distinguished Professor of History Marcus Rediker during our virtual event. It was close to midnight for Professor Rediker, who works at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States. As part of their Michaelmas Term curriculum on Old Imperialism in History, Year 9 students read Professor Rediker’s influential work, The Slave Ship: A Human History. The virtual event discussion covered a range of topics from the book itself to Professor Rediker’s interest in History and his life working at a university, as well as his advice for our students.  

When Professor Rediker was asked about why he focused on the slave ship itself, he stated, “History happens at sea. Very important historical processes like class formation, race formation, the formation of the world market, these things happened at sea, and they have to be studied at sea. I thought I could make a contribution by thinking about the slave ship as a social world unto itself that was really important to the world that we live in.” 

When asked about what the day in the life of a university professor is like, Professor Rediker responded, “It is an interesting life and I do recommend it to all of you. You have a lot of freedom about how you want to spend your time. A typical day for me will consist of getting up very early in the morning and catching up on emails, communicating with people really all around the world, I’m happy to say, just like you on the other side of the Earth, talking about matters of common interest. I’ll usually then spend the morning hours doing research or writing. In the afternoon, I usually spend my time reading.” 

Professor Rediker also dived into his background. He explained, “My history interest began to develop during the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. I was active in the movement against the war in Vietnam. The women’s movement was very important. There were movements for political rights, civil rights, Black Power. Those movements all demanded a new kind of history. So, I was part of the generation that wanted to answer the call and provide a different kind of history that took issues like race, class, and gender more seriously than they had been taken during the conservative era of the Cold War. My interest in history really emerged probably in my late teens and early twenties when I saw history as a way of understanding the possibility of a better world.” 

When asked about advice for Year 9s in selecting their IGCSE subjects, Professor Rediker said, “The most important thing that you can do in choosing what you want to learn is to choose the topics for which you have the greatest passion. Real learning will take place when you are highly motivated to learn. You’ve got to be driven to learn. The important thing is that you have a deep, driving love for some subject and that you explore it as deeply as you can.” However, Professor Rediker also cautioned, “If you don’t find that right away, don’t be upset. Keep looking. Your path is not predetermined.”  

Professor Rediker concluded, “One of the purposes of a truly enlightened education is to give you the chance to explore your interests in a wide variety of subjects. Follow your passions. Don’t be afraid of taking the ‘crooked roads.’ I believe there is some genius in all of us. Your job is to find it.” 

The virtual event was attended by nearly 100 students and staff at BSC.