March 2007 was the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. To mark this important event in our history, the Mona campus of the UWI will devote its Academic Conference 2007 to an examination of the meaning of this event for us and for humanity.

The Mona Academic Conference 2007 is scheduled to take place from Friday, August 31 to Sunday, September 2 under the theme “Freedom: Retrospective and Prospective.” The Conference officially begins with an Opening Ceremony on Friday, August 31 at 6:00 pm at the Undercroft, UWI Mona. The event continues over two days with presentations and discussions.

Additionally, the conference will preserve the memory of the historical experience that has helped to shape who we are as a people and society, and highlight the meaning and value of freedom to us as individuals and as a people. It will also help us to claim it as a value in itself to be defended and extended, as well as a goal and instrument of development and to critically examine development as a process of realizing freedom, as a means of furnishing the citizenry with the capabilities that are required to enjoy the desired positive freedoms.