Critical Walking is an ongoing research project created by Rosie Spooner that uses walking as a tool for uncovering so-called ‘hidden’ histories of empire. It investigates how historical walking tours and associated walking resources can deepen understandings of the history of Scotland’s involvement in slavery, colonialism and imperialism and the ways this shaped the urban environment, built heritage and museum collections.
By creating opportunities for slow walking and close looking, the project enables in-depth engagement with the spaces that surround us, questioning the heritage that is preserved and presented in the public realm and identifying and recognising histories that are not. Through the creation and evaluation of guided historical walking tours, self-led heritage trails and other engagement resources, walking is used as a medium for examining sites in Glasgow that evidence histories of slavery, imperialism and colonialism, thus furthering public understandings of this past and its contemporary legacies.
Interested in learning more? Listen to Rosie discuss the project in this episode of Stories from Glasgow, the podcast series produced by the University of Glasgow’s College of Arts & Humanities.
The project was also the focus of an article published in The Herald, ‘Glasgow: Walking tour connects city to slavery past‘, and this article published in The Bell, ‘The groups keeping Glasgow’s parks afloat’, features Rosie discussing the history of Glasgow’s parks.