Calendar

Johan Mathew: High School Teachers Institute

Friday, November 19, 2021, 09:30am - 02:00pm

November 19, 2021

“Piracy in World History: “The Greatest Pirate in History”

Johan Matthew, Assistant Professor of History, Rutgers University

Pirates were some of the most depraved and horrific individuals in human history. And yet they are also somehow beloved characters fit for Disney cartoons; for some reason they make “rape and pillage” sound like a birthday party game. How do we reconcile this disturbing contradiction? This workshop takes three figures from across the globe who have a claim to be the world’s greatest pirate. In understanding their stories and their historical contexts we seek to explore issues of race, gender, imperialism, inequality, and the long history of globalization. In the workshop we will be introduced to different eras and locations of piratical activity and we will learn what these instances reveal about their societies and how we can use these exciting stories to explore important historical concepts and debates.

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