The Faculty of Arts is pleased to offer the final event in its new ConneXions Seminar Series. Join us on Zoom, Friday, May 7, 2021, at 2:30 pm, when Dr. Gregg French will present “Integration in an Imperial Outpost: The U.S. Empire Encounters Spain’s Imperial Legacy on the Island of Guam, 1898–1926.”

Abstract:

At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the once vast Spanish Empire ceded its remaining insular possessions to the United States. These islands included Puerto Rico and Cuba in the Caribbean Basin, the Philippine archipelago in Southeast Asia, as well as the isolated imperial outpost of Guam. On December 23, 1898, U.S. President William McKinley instructed the Secretary of the Navy to occupy the island and to “give it the necessary protection and government” that it required. Challenging beliefs associated with American exceptionalism, this talk will explore how U.S. naval officers borrowed from over three centuries of Spanish imperial knowledge, as they went about establishing their colonial administration on the island of Guam.

Zoom link: https://upei.zoom.us/j/61586078663?pwd=RGRjQ2pJTzAxZkI2ckxyU1cvRVJ1QT09

The ConneXions Seminar Series aims to foster understanding of the role that the liberal arts play in knowledge and ways of knowing and in making sense of the complexities of the world around us through panel discussions; speakers and research talks; collaborative projects and presentations; symposia and workshops; and reading and discussion groups.