Dr. Richard Benjamin

Head, International Slavery Museum

Richard heads the International Slavery Museum at National Museums Liverpool where he is responsible for the strategic development of the Museum, including its forthcoming education and resource centre, partnerships, research and collection policies. He is also the Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of International Slavery, a partnership with the University of Liverpool.

Richard gained a BA (Hons) degree in Community and Race Relations at Edge Hill College and then went on to complete an MA and Ph.D. in Archaeology at the University of Liverpool. In 2002 he was a Visiting Research scholar at the W.E.B.DuBois Institute of African and African American Research, Harvard University and appointed as the head of the International Slavery Museum in 2006. He is a Trustee of the Anthony Walker Foundation, an Edge Hill University Governor, Board member of the Commonwealth Association of Museums and UK representative of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route project.

His current research interests include imaging violent acts and events in museums, the archaeology of modern slavery and enslavement and the ethical and moral dimensions of collecting and displaying sensitive and difficult histories.