The Next Century of Black Studies at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture – New York, NY

IN-PERSON & VIRTUAL

Recognizing that Black Studies exists both within and outside of the academy, we have invited a diverse group of university and independent scholars, graduate students, community archivists, librarians, and public historians, to consider The Next Century of Black Studies in a hybrid conference.

Please register even if you are attending online. Programs will be streamed on our YouTube channel.

Though we convene at a time when book bans, academic retrenchment, and curriculum purging poses real harm and threat to the field, this conference offers 3 days of dynamic and purposeful presentations including roundtable conversations, hands-on workshops, short presentations, plenaries, and opportunities for discussion and dialogue.

Grounded in the Schomburg Center’s commitment to prepare for its next century of service, and in recognition of the significance of the Schomburg Center’s collection, its centrality to the work of Black Studies scholarship in the past and present, and the possibilities for how it will shape the future(s) of the discipline, this conference serves as a capstone event to our centennial celebrations.

SAVE THE DATES. SET A REMINDER.

The program will be in person and online, with recorded sessions remaining accessible online. Many, though perhaps not all presentations will be live streamed.

Conference streaming links will be placed online and in this Eventbrite listing as information becomes available. Also consult the online conference page: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2026/09/26/schomburg-center-hold-next-century-black-studies-conference-nov-16-18-2026

If there are specific questions or needs regarding the conference, please email schomburgcenterevents@nypl.org.

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED The conference is free, but due to space constraints registration is requested for all in person participants. We generally overbook to ensure a full house, so we recommend that you arrive early.

GUESTS Please note that holding seats in the Langston Hughes Auditorium is strictly prohibited and there is no food or drinks allowed in the auditorium or other meeting rooms.

E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces and people safe.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image and audio for any and all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at leahdrayton@nypl.org.

Please note that personal and professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail accessibility@nypl.org.

Conference Program (As of 10.16.26))

Monday, November 16

9 AM | Check-in/Coffee

10 AM | Opening Remarks | Joy L. Bivins, Schomburg Center Director; Vanessa Valdés, Independent Scholar

10:30 AM | Keynote Conversation | Yomaira Figueroa-Vasquez and Farah Jasmine Griffin

11:30 AM | Short Break

11:45 AM | 4 Concurrent Programs:

11:45 AM | Editando la Amefricanidade: Black Publishing Houses and the Next Century of Black Studies [HYBRID]

11:45 AM | Reconsidering "Black Marxism" for the Next Century of Black Studies

11:45 AM | School Librarians and Expanding Students Accessibility to Black Studies

11:45 AM | Black Studies and African and African Diaspora Studies Now: Arturo Alfonso Schomburg’s Legacy Today

1:15 PM | Lunch Break

2:15 PM | 4 Concurrent Programs:

2:15 PM | Why Afro-European Studies? Building an Emerging Field Within Global Black Studies [HYBRID]

2:15 PM | The Generative Futures of African American History in the Age of A.I. [VIRTUAL]

2:15 PM | A Decade of Black Feminist Mentorship in Harlem

2:15 PM | Stories of Black Gay Men’s Being, Belonging, & World-Making in New York

3:45 PM | Break

4:00 PM | 4 Concurrent Programs:

4 PM | No Hay Estudios Negros Sin Afro-Latinoamérica (There Is No Black Studies Without Afro-Latin America) [HYBRID]

4 PM | Stewarding Black Studies in 21st Century and Beyond: The Work of Sustaining Our Intellectual Life

4 PM | Uploading Black Lives: Creating and Editing WikiData with the Black Bibliography Project

4 PM | Spirals of Possibility: Diasporic Black Feminist Archival Interventions

5:30 PM | Reception

Tuesday, November 17

9 AM | Check-in/Coffee

10AM | 3 Concurrent Programs:

10 AM | Geographies of Black Studies [HYBRID]

10 AM | The Archives Are for All of Us: How Scholars Can Connect Readers to Primary Sources

10 AM | For My People: Centering Black Collections in American and Global Scholarship

11:30 AM | Break

11:45 AM | 3 Concurrent Programs:

11:45 AM | The Im/Possibilities of Black Studies in the UK’s Emergent Neoliberal Fascist Conjuncture {VIRTUAL}

11:45 AM | From K–12 to the Academy: Archival Pedagogies for the Future of Black Studies

11:45 AM | The Nexus of Black Studies and Black Collections: Past & Future Visions

1:15 PM | Lunch

2:30 PM | 2 Concurrent Programs:

2:30 PM | Black Studies and the University

2:30 PM | Amefricanidade From Below: From Obligation to Reciprocal Black Solidarity

6:30 PM | Between the River and the Railroad Tracks: A Book Launch, with Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood (In-Person and Online Public Program with Separate Registration)

Wednesday, November 18

9 AM | Check-in/Coffee

10 AM | Plenary | Joy Bivins in Conversation with the Hosts of the Black Studies Podcast, Ashley Newby and John Drabinski.

11 AM | Break

11:15 AM | Plenary | Christen Smith in conversation with Brent Hayes Edwards

12:15 PM | Closing Remarks - Joy Bivins

The Next Century of Black Studies Conference is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED Events are free and open to all, but due to space constraints registration is requested. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. After the event starts all registered seats are released regardless of registration, so we recommend that you arrive early. We generally overbook to ensure a full house.

GUESTS Please note that holding seats in the Langston Hughes Auditorium is strictly prohibited and there is no food or drinks allowed.

E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at leahdrayton@nypl.org.

Please note that personal and professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.