E4: Shared Island Stories between Scotland and the Caribbean: Past, Present, Future
Tracks
4
| Monday, November 30, 2026 |
| 12:10 PM - 1:25 PM |
| RHMZ01 |
Overview
Stream: Climate, Environmental Justice and Resilience
Paper / Session Submitter
Professor Karen Brown
Professor Of Art History, Museum And Heritage Studies
University Of St Andrews, Scotland
Shared Island Stories between Scotland and the Caribbean: Past, Present, Future
Summary Abstract
This curated session explores hidden histories and contemporary connections between Scotland’s Highlands and Islands and the Caribbean, situating them within broader contexts of empire, enslavement, environmental change, and climate justice. Bringing together historical, cultural, and ecological perspectives, the talks collectively reframe island heritage as relational, dynamic, and politically engaged. The first contribution examines shared yet obscured histories linking subaltern Scottish communities and enslaved African peoples within Atlantic plantation economies. The second positions heritage as an evolving practice central to addressing the climate crisis, highlighting island heritage spaces for community-led climate justice and environmental action. The third foregrounds youth-led, transnational heritage work, demonstrating how cultural knowledge and lived experience can support climate resilience and solidarity. The final talk reflects critically on interdisciplinary and ethical methodologies, proposing a reparative framework that connects Scotland–Caribbean heritage relations to global heritage and sustainability debates relevant to the Moana Oceania Pacific region and UNESCO priorities.
Biographies
Professor of Art History, Museum and Heritage Studies, St Andrews. Studied History of Art & Architecture and French at Trinity College Dublin, is author/(co-)Editor of multiple volumes, and coordinates international research projects linking museums, communities, and climate action across Europe, Scotland, Latin America and the Caribbean, including Shared Island Stories.
Heather Cateau, Senior Lecturer Caribbean History, University of the West Indies and Senior Research Fellow, Shared Island Stories Scotland and the Caribbean Project. She applies a revisionist approach while reassembling fragments of lives, relationships and spaces created from a contested Caribbean past, characterised by African enslavement and plantation systems.
Alissandra Cummins, GCM, FMA is Director of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, author/ editor on Caribbean heritage, museology, and art history. She lectures in Museum and Heritage Studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill and is an Adviser, Shared Island Stories Scotland and the Caribbean Project.
Jamie Allan Brown is a Research Fellow in the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on international youth exchanges connecting islands, heritage and climate action, positioning museums as catalysts for sustainable development and intergenerational knowledge exchange through the Shared Island Stories research project.
