Mano Delea (LLB; MSc, Political Science, International Relations; PhD, History, University of Amsterdam, 2019) is a Lecturer in Modern - and Dutch history in the Department of History, European Studies and Religious Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Before joining the University of Amsterdam, he was a Lecturer at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, a Teacher in American Studies at Radboud University, and a Visiting Lecturer at Utrecht University. He was Programme Officer for the Forest Peoples Programme in Suriname and French Guiana, where he worked on human – and land rights cases. From 2014 to 2021, he was Programme Director of the Black Europe Summer School and in the spring of 2024 he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Within the History Capacity Group, he is the Chair of the BA Education Committee and he teaches in the BA and MA programs. 

Delea’s research focuses on social movements and transformations in historical trajectories of emancipation and the history of imperialism and anti-imperialism, which he analyzes from the perspective of sovereignty and power relations. His PhD research examined the collective memory of Atlantic chattel slavery and its implications on Pan-Africanism and knowledge production. He worked on a research report published in 2020 titled – Why Freedom Could Not Wait - as part of a research group at the National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy (NiNsee). The research examined the Dutch debate of 1862 on the abolition of slavery. It includes a discourse analysis on which parliamentarians were in favor of abolition and which were against it and why. Delea is currently working on two upcoming research projects; one on emancipation and one on imperialism. The research project on emancipation includes the legacy of slavery and contemporary forms inequality in the Netherlands. The research project on imperialism includes theories of imperialism, and (anti-)imperialism in different world regions, and related historical and contemporary questions concerning the environment.

Current courses

Inleiding in de Geschiedschrijving (FGw, BA) (Introduction to Historiography)

UvA Grand Tour (FGw, BA, MA)

Zorgen voor het Zelf. Groep en individu in the tweede millenium na Christus (ca. 1000-2000) (Caring for the Self: groups and individuals in the 2nd millenium AD) (FGw, MA)

Scriptiebegeleiding (FGw, MA) (MA Thesis supervision)

Previously taught courses

Wereldgeschiedenis (FGw, BA) (World History)

Historische Dilemma’s (FGw, BA) (Historical Dilemmas)

Onderzoeksseminar (FGw, BA) (Research Seminar)

Geschiedenislab II (FGw, BA) (History Lab II)