William Carter
Research Areas
Interests
Atlantic history, Caribbeanist historiography, historicity two, aquatic history, transatlantic slave trade, British slave trade 18th-century, the slave ship, rivers and littoral spaces (west/central Africa), race (blackness/whiteness), shipboard rebellion and disability
Contact Information
Biography
I am a PhD Candidate and Fulbright Scholar from southeast London, England, in the Geography Department at the University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the Berkeley Black Geographies Project. As a historical geographer of the Black Atlantic, I combine methods of Black Geographic inquiry and Atlantic history to investigate the aquatic histories of the Atlantic world and the transatlantic slave trade. Methodologically, I focus on close textual analysis of archival materials such as slave ship logbooks, muster rolls, surgeons’ journals, correspondence, and surveys of the West African coast alongside critical examination of nautical navigation charts.
My life outside of academia and community engagement is characterised by the following activities: listening to Prince, wearing adidas tracksuits, taking long walks around San Francisco, spending hours a day reading British newspapers, watching the 90s sitcom Frasier, and finding time to reconnect with my daughter (schnauzer-poodle named Vienna).
I learn through asking questions and attentively listening to responses.
Education
BSc Politics and International Relations, University of Bristol (UK)
First Class with Honours, awarded October 2020
Study Abroad Exchange Year, University of California, Berkeley - (2018/2019)
University of California Education Abroad Program
Focus: Ancient History and African American Studies
DISSERTATION PROJECT
My dissertation project, Navigating Black Waters and White Fears: Re-thinking Risk, Rebellion and Racialisation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, examines the historical origins of racialisation and the co-constitutive association between Blackness and danger and whiteness and anxiety in the context of the transatlantic slave trade. I explore this by focusing on the British transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century, a time of ‘peak’ slave trading and British dominance. I centre my research on three sites of encounter, conflict, and exchange: the West African littorals (Gold Coast and Slave Coast), the shipboard rebellion of the enslaved, and the disabling aftereffects of the trade on white crew members of slave ships during the Atlantic voyage and in American ports. In doing so, I examine how fear and non-navigability, risk and rebellion, and disability and literacy intersect to forge an enduring link between Blackness and danger. My project ultimately demonstrates how the terrorisation of the enslaved became terrorising to the enslavers, and how, for those enslavers, the enslaved became Black, and how Blackness itself became criminalised. I reveal the historical origins and contemporary consequences and manifestations of a white racial formation that had to and perhaps continues to conceal its inferiority and fragility by spectacularising Black corporal vulnerability through terrorisation and torture.
C.L.R James’ Black Jacobins, W.E.B Du Bois's Black Reconstruction, Eric Williams's Capitalism and Slavery and Paul Gilroy’s Black Atlantic all attempt to unravel the centrality of slavery to the modern experience. It was, however, Toni Morrison who ‘state[d] this argument with special force’ (Gilroy, 1993: 221). Morrison writes:
“…Modern life begins with slavery…You call it an ideology and an economy, what it is is a pathology. Slavery broke the world in half, it broke it in every way. It broke Europe. They had to reconstruct everything in order to make the system appear true... It made everything in world war two possible. It made world war one necessary. Racism is the word that we use to encompass all of this” (Toni Morrison, cited by Gilroy, 1993: 221).
Morrison’s articulation of the centrality of slavery and racialisation to understanding our world highlights the interconnected history of the transatlantic slave trade and race and racialisation as a hierarchical and classificatory system. As Stuart Hall argued in Race as a Floating Signifier, race and racialisation is not only a system of classification but also a system of power, a way of maintaining order in the system (Hall, 1997). In this way, one can understand the contemporary global crisis and its economic and ecological forms by studying how race and racialisation developed, an unravelling of how the system was and continues to be ordered. I examine the origins of racialisation within the transatlantic slave trade to understand the contemporary world, and in doing so, I offer a new way to understand our current moment and, perhaps, a means to change it.
For more information about my research, check out my long form feature in Berkeley News. ‘With newly digitised slave ship logs, Berkeley PhD student examines race, power, and literacy.’
My Commitments and Method
My journey as a scholar is deeply intertwined with my experiences as a Black British scholar of English and Ghanaian heritage raised in social housing in southeast London. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand how racial and class disparities shaped access to education and literacy, as my classroom contained the mixture of wealth and poverty typical of my area. The defining feature of my upbringing was the struggle to learn how to read and write and to do so in a school that was predominantly formed of white, middle-class nuclear families. It was this struggle, impacted by my Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, that would form the critical conjuncture from which everything else would follow. Although I would receive specialist intervention and begin to formulate my own way of reading and writing through technology, this was an incredibly traumatising experience that shaped my academic journey, pedigree, and commitments. It began a style of scholarly inquiry defined by a refusal of illiteracy. These early struggles instilled in me a deep commitment to challenging the structures that marginalise, racialise, and exclude under the guise of literacy.
This commitment informs my doctoral project, ‘Navigating Black Waters and White Fears: Re-thinking Risk, Rebellion and Racialisation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Grounded in extensive archival work, I study the documents that administratively governed the slave trade, documents that facilitated its profits and mitigated its risks. I concentrate on slave ship logbooks, account books, muster rolls, surgeon journals, insurance papers, and correspondence, all written in 18th-century cursive handwriting. Though primarily preserved for accounting or tax reasons, these documents are just remnants of the extensive paperwork that supported and facilitated the trade, traces of a history haphazardly rather than intentionally preserved.
Although my project demands a close textual reading of these archival materials, I am unable to do so, as I read using text-to-speech software that requires typed text with optical character recognition. This left me facing the dualling and co-constitutive absences of the historical erasure of enslaved lives and the exclusionary literacy practices embedded in the archives themselves. As to be presented with the cursive scrolling handwriting of an 18th-century slave ship captain, for which your inability to read was already racialised into its literary construction, is to be presented with total absence and to be marked by savagery.
In response, I launched a four-year campaign to have these documents transcribed and converted by the university, which resulted in me sending hundreds of emails, some thousands of words long, and attending dozens of meetings and mediation efforts. For some time during my studies, this effort and this struggle became my sole focus. This was an effort to refuse illiteracy and to do so as a rebellious act against both the university and the slave traders who authored the documents. Through extensive efforts, this struggle eventually transformed into a partnership with the Disabled Students Program at UC Berkeley.
Collaborating with the Disabled Students Program, I developed a novel transcription and conversion process using their in-house transcribers, artificial intelligence software, and specialist cursive handwriting conversion vendors, all funded by the university. This process transforms these materials into typed text that is accessible via text-to-speech technology, which has enabled an innovative auditory methodology of ‘close listening’. Listening to the archives, rather than reading them, transforms how we understand and engage with them.
In his field-defining text The Black Atlantic, Paul Gilroy writes that ‘it is the struggle to have blacks perceived as agents, as people with cognitive capacities and even with an intellectual history—attributes denied by modern racism—that is for me the primary reason for writing this’ (Gilroy, 1993: 6). My research, my advocacy, my community engagement, all intertwined, are conceived out of the same circumstance.
Foregrounded by my upbringing and advocacy, my scholarly inquiry is motivated not only to understand the world but to change it.
community engagement
At UC Berkeley, I am an active neurodiversity advocate, campaigner, and policy developer. In Fall 2022, I was nominated to serve on the UC Berkeley Graduate Divisions' inaugural 'Neurodiversity Task Force' - an initiative I helped to develop for the 2022/2023 academic year.
As a Graduate Student Researcher at UC Berkeley’s University Health Service, I have been the Chair of the UC Berkeley Neurodiversity Initiative since Spring 2023. This initiative is a component of the Student Affairs 3–5-year Strategic Initiative, with the charge of improving support for neurodiverse students. The Initiative includes two projects. The first is the development and launch of a Neurodiversity Clinic at UC Berkeley, which would offer students holistic diagnostic evaluation, support and empowerment, along with campus services and training to integrate and direct support of Neurodiverse students across campus. The second project is to ensure that health, well-being and disability justice are central to the university's fundraising and development efforts in the medium to long term. This involves me working at the intersection of research, community engagement, administrative management and grant writing. I lead a core team of five staff members of various backgrounds and seniorities. As part of my role, Peter Cornish and Martha Velasquez are acting as my co-mentors.
I am also an advocate for disabled students and the politics of disability. As Project Director for the Graduate Assemblies Disabled Students Advocacy Project (2021- 2022), I co-wrote the 'DSP Crisis Quick Guide', and co-founded the Access, Learning and Leadership (ALL) at UC Berkeley initiative (formerly Accessibility Beyond Compliance) with fellow Graduate Student Rosa Enriquez, M.S.W. The initiative secured over $120k in multi-year funding from the Big C Fund, Wellness Fund, and Chancellors Advisory Committee on Student Services and Fees. ALL aims to create communities of staff, faculty and graduate students with the knowledge and resources to make their educational environment more accessible, trauma- informed, and culturally responsive. Our program uses the #InclusiveByDesign framework developed by Stanford researcher Dr Lakshmi Balasubramanian and trauma-informed education research from Berkeley researcher Dr Renee Starowicz. From Spring 2024 onwards, this initiative has been transferred to the Disability Cultural Community Center (DCCC) on campus. I continue to work closely with Dr. Balasubramanian and Starowicz on Neurodiversity and Disability Justice efforts.
I have also authored a 24-page report named 'Exclusion by Design: An Infrastructure of Inaccessibility, and Systematic Disability Discrimination Practices.' This report examines the practices that lead to exclusion and discrimination against graduate students with disabilities. The report offers programmatic and policy improvements to better support graduate students. Although this report continues to prove controversial, it provided a launching point for a Fireside Chat with UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ on Disabled graduate students and the agenda of the Graduate Divisions Neurodiversity Task Force.
As a Diversity and Community Fellow (2021/2022 – 2022/2023), I co-led the development of the Graduate Student Child Welfare System Impacted Youth Initiative. Working alongside the Berkeley Hope Scholars (BHS), we organised the first town hall for this community under the Graduate Division's leadership. We aimed to establish a new definition for child welfare system-impacted youth, replace the outdated Federal definition of Foster Youth, and modify the Berkeley graduate application process to reflect this new definition. Additionally, we ensured that affected students were immediately directed to relevant campus services, received monthly funding for dinner, participated in a dual-mentorship model program, and doubled scholarship funding for Graduate students impacted by the child welfare system. Starting in Fall 2022, graduate students who've experienced the child welfare system will get $6k in scholarships, double the previous amount. This resulted in $40k in additional annual funding for this group of students.
I presented my strategic plan and achievements at the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) conference (Region 9) with BHS Director Charly King Beavers in 2022, to spur wider development. This led to me receiving the first-ever UC Regents Leadership Award for services to Foster Youth (2022).
academic appointments
Graduate Student Researcher: UC Berkeley Neurodiversity Initiative – Student Mental Health – University Health Services (Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025 and Spring 2026)
Research Fellow: UC Berkeley Neurodiversity Initiative – Student Mental Health – University Health Services (Spring 2024 and Fall 2025)
Graduate Student Reader: Urban Studies - 70AC Professor Brandi Summers (Spring 2021)
Graduate Student Researcher: Geography Department Anti-Racism Working Group (Fall 2020 to Spring 2021)
Scholarships & Awards
The Heumann-Armstrong Award 2023 - The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Loyola Marymount University and Equal Opportunities for Students
- This is a National Award co-created by Disability Rights activist Judith Heumann. It is awarded to six students annually from 6th Grade through Higher Education who have experienced and combated ableism in education and demonstrated leadership in Disability Justice.
The University of California Regents Leadership Award for Services to Foster Youth 2022 - University of California
- Awarded by President Michael Drake and Chair of the Regents Richard Leib; I was the inaugural recipient of this now annual award.
The Fulbright Scholarship: The Fulbright All Discipline Award (2020/2021) - US-UK Fulbright Commission
The Fulbright Alumni Award (2020/2021) - US-UK Fulbright Commission
- Awarded to Fulbrighters who ‘embody exceptional ambassadorial qualities’, limited to one annual award. It is the highest additional accreditation the US-UK Fulbright Commission can give.
Fellowships
Rocca Dissertation Research Grant (2024/2025) – UC Berkeley, Center for African Studies
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting dissertation research.
Dissertation Research Grant (2024/2025) – UC Berkeley, Center for British Studies
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting dissertation research.
Research Grants “Routes of Enslavement in the Americas” (2024/2025)– University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MPRI) Project “Routes of Enslavement in the Americas”
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available, open to scholars from across the University of California.
Graduate Student Grant (2024/2025) – UC Berkeley, The Anticolonial Lab
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting dissertation research.
Rocca Pre-Dissertation Grant (2023/2024) - UC Berkeley, Center for African Studies
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting pre-dissertation summer research.
CICI Summer Grant (2023/2024) - UC Berkeley, Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting pre-dissertation summer research.
CRG Graduate Grant (2023/2024) –UC Berkeley, Center for Race and Gender
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting pre-dissertation summer research.
Geography Department Summer Research Fellowship (2023/2024) - UC Berkeley, Geography Department
- Merit-based fellowship fund available to Geography PhD students conducting research over the summer.
Harvard History Project Research Grant (2022/2023) – Harvard University, Center for History and Economics, History Department, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available, open to scholars from around the world.
The John L. Simpson Pre-Dissertation Research Fellowship in International & Area Studies (2022/2023) – UC Berkeley, Global, International and Area Studies (GIAS)
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley Graduate students conducting pre-dissertation summer research.
Political Economy of Technology Research Fund (2022/2023) – UC Berkeley, The Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI)
- Selective and merit-based small grant fellowship available to UC Berkeley PhD Students in the College of Letters and Science.
Geography Department Summer Research Fellowship (2022/2023) - UC Berkeley
- Merit-based fellowship fund available to Geography PhD students conducting research over the summer.
Diversity and Community Fellow, UC Berkeley Graduate Division (2021/2022 – 2022/2023)
- Fellows advance and implement the diversity and inclusion goals of the Office for Graduate Diversity and the Graduate Division.
Andrew W. Mellon Black Studies Collaboratory Summer Fellowship (2021/2022) - UC Berkeley African-American Studies Department
- Selective and merit-based small grants available to faculty, staff and students whose research centers ‘Blackness’ and collaboration.
Geography Department Summer Research Fellowship (2021/2022) - UC Berkeley
- Selective and merit-based fellowship fund available to Geography PhD students conducting research over the summer.
R. Kirk Underhill Graduate Fellowship (2020/2021) - UC Berkeley
- Selective and merit-based fellowship, awarded to graduate students whose research focuses on Anglo-American affairs, and US-UK relations or comparisons.
conferences & symposia
California Higher Education Basic Needs Alliance (CHEBNA) 2026 Annual Conference, Sacramento, CA – February 10th to 11th
- Panellist, title: Advancing Neurodiversity-Inclusive Basic Needs
University of California Office of the President, Student Mental Health Conference, UC Davis, CA – October 4th to 5th
- At the conference, I was invited to present my work and the UC Berkeley Neurodiversity Initiative at the plenary session. It was not scheduled, and I gave a 15-20-minute speech without notes or slides.
Stanford Global Neurodiversity Summit, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA – October 3rd 2023 [virtual]
- Panellist, title: Black Neurodiverse Graduate Student Experience
University of Washington, Department of Geography Colloquium, Seattle, WA - April 14th 2023 [virtual]
- Panelist, title: Communities of Care for Disability in the Academy and Beyond
American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting 2023, Denver, CO - March 24th 2023 [virtual]
- Panelist, title: Cripping Geographical Research
Andrew W. Mellon Black Studies Collaboratory Small Grantee Symposium 2022, UC Berkeley, CA - September 9th, 2022
- Panelist, title: ‘The Death Walk: Special Educational Needs and Psychiatry as Encounters of Confinement’
National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 9/CAL-CAAN Conference 2022, Orange County, CA – March 16th–18th, 2022
- Co-Lead Workshop Facilitator/Presenter, title: ‘Don't Stop, Won't Stop: From Foster Care to Graduate School’
MediaX at Stanford University series: Flying Without Co-pilots: Opportunities to Bridge Gaps in the Support Ecosystem for Children with Autism, Stanford, CA – January 12th, 2022 [virtual]
- Panelist, title: ‘The Relationship between Blackness, Autism and Carcerality’
The Al Noor Global Summit 2021: Frontiers of Disability Rehabilitation and Inclusion International Virtual Conference, Dubai UAE –December 11th -12th , 2021 [virtual]
- Panelist, title: ‘Academic Ableism, Racism and Social Mobility Narratives’
UC Berkeley Leadership Academy Neurodiversity Workshop – UC Berkeley, CA - October 28th, 2021 [virtual]
- Keynote Panelist, title: ‘Neurodivergence, Race and Educational Displacement’
Media Engagement
I have received numerous awards for my community engagement and also UK press attention for my advocacy, including website and YouTube profiles in The Times, Times Radio, ITV This Morning, BBC Radio 4 Today, and Ian Wright’s Everyday People podcast, and have been interviewed by Ben-Oní on their Black Neurodiversity Podcast. I have also been invited to contribute chapters to two edited collections, Black, Brilliant and Dyslexic: Neurodivergent Heroes Tell their Stories and Square Pegs: Inclusivity, compassion and fitting in – a guide for schools, both focusing on my neurodiversity advocacy and biography. Most recently, I discussed my experiences as an advocate at UC Berkeley, along with my thoughts on higher education and accessible research at an R-1 for the Heumann-Armstrong Awardees Interview series.
In addition to the profiles on my biography and neurodiversity efforts, my research has been profiled by Berkeley News in a long-form feature entitled ‘With newly digitized slave ship logs, Berkeley PhD student examines race, power — and literacy’.