MIDWEST REGIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES BIENNIAL CONFERENCE: Centering the Voices of Black Women
Midwest Regional African American Studies Biennial Conference
Call for Papers
Antiracism: Centering the Voices of Black Women
The Ball State African American Studies program, Teachers College, and the Office of Inclusive Excellence are pleased to announce the 1st Midwest Regional African American Studies Biennial Conference taking place virtually March 12-13, 2021. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Irma McClaurin, founder of the Black Feminist Archive.
The program committee is accepting abstracts for individual paper presentations and panel sessions that center Black women in antiracism theory and practice, as well as within the fields and functions of Africana Studies and its continuous development and advancement. Ibram X. Kendi’s book How to Be an Antiracist has garnered much attention as the “go to” text on understanding antiracism as both an individual practice and a public policy pursuit. At the same time, White women scholars such as Robin DiAngelo have been receiving accolades for their antiracism work with less acknowledgement of the work of Black women, even as Brittney Cooper, Layla Saad, Mikki Kendall, among others have published groundbreaking antiracism texts. We pose the question: How do we center Black women within antiracism discourse?
We welcome proposals for individual papers and panels that focus on Black women in antiracism theory and practice, creative writing, and pedagogy. We also welcome papers and panels on topics within the overarching frameworks of Black life. Possible paper topics might include but are not limited to:
Activism – old and new
Africana/Black Studies
Afrocentricity – theory and practice
Afrofuturism
Afro pessimism
Black Feminism/Womanism
Diaspora Studies
Environmental Studies
Ethical thought – ancient and modern
Gender & Sexuality
Histories of Theories of Identify and Difference
Intersectionality Studies
Literary Studies
Memory and Memorization
Pedagogical Practice
Pan-African Studies
Police Violence and Resistance
Racism
Racial Capitalism
Race, Class, and Gender
Reparations and Reparations Theory
Service Learning and Social Activism
Social Justice
White Supremacy and Empire
All abstracts must be emailed to bsuafricanamericanstudies@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2021. Please submit the information below in a Word document.
Individual Paper Abstracts:
An individual paper submission is a single-present format reserved for scholars, students (both undergraduate and graduate), and non-academic professionals. Please include the following information to complete your submission:
- Paper abstract (no more than 250 words);
- Paper title;
- Name and email;
- Institution/Affiliation and designation (i.e. undergraduate, graduate, director, chair, professor, organizational role, etc.).
Panel Sessions:
A full panel submission is a multiple-presenter format that consists of a session chair and 3-4 individually titled papers that are thematically connected. A full panel of 3 individual papers can include a discussant. Discussant comments should be limited to 10 minutes. Three paper panels should afford 20 minutes per presenter; 4 paper panels should afford 15 minutes per presenter. Please include the following information to complete your submission:
- Panel abstract (no more than 750 words);
- Panel title;
- Name, affiliation, and email for session chair;
- Name, affiliation, email, and paper title for each presenter;
- Name, affiliation, and email for each discussant;
- Name, affiliation, and email of primary contact.
Dr. Kiesha Warren-Gordon, Ball State University
Dr. Emily Ruth Rutter, Ball State University