Fourth Annual Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute
August 4 - 8, 2025
UNCERTAINTY
Convener: Jennifer C. Nash
The Department of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies at Duke University invites applications from graduate students for a five-day Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute. This year, the institute will focus on interdisciplinary Black feminist scholarship that attends to uncertainty. Graduate students will have an opportunity to engage closely with prominent scholars, and to meet students from other institutions with similar intellectual interests. Students will also have the chance to share their scholarly work in short presentations. Our goal is to produce a cross-institution interdisciplinary community of scholars working in the field of Black feminist theory.
Institute Faculty:
Bimbola Akinbola (Northwestern)
Kara Keeling (USC)
Amber Musser (CUNY Graduate Center)
Tamika Nunley (Duke)
Calvin Warren (Emory)
Sa Whitley (Arizona State)
Patricia J. Williams (Northeastern)
Tiffany Willoughby-Herard (UC Irvine)
Application Process:
Twenty participants will be accepted into the Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute, ten from Triangle-area universities and ten from other colleges and universities. We welcome applications from all graduate students with an interest in Black feminist theory, broadly defined.
Application:
The due date for applications is Monday, December 16, 2024.
Successful applicants will be notified by January 15, 2025.
Questions?
Please feel free to email Mishana Garschi (BFTSI postdoctoral fellow) with any questions: mishana.garschi@duke.edu
PAST BLACK FEMINIST THEORY SUMMER INSTITUTES
Since 2022, Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute has designated a thematic focus area as a point of exploration.
You can learn more about our past institutes by clicking the titles of each below.
August 5 - 9, 2024
HOME
Convener: Jennifer C. Nash
The Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University invites applications from graduate students for a five-day Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute. This year, the Institute will focus on interdisciplinary Black feminist scholarship that attends to home. We welcome applicants who work on: home-making, home-breaking, the politics of domesticity, built environments, world-making, place-making, constructions of privacy, speculative homes, and beyond. Graduate students will have an opportunity to engage closely with prominent scholars, and to meet students from other institutions with similar intellectual interests. Students will also have the chance to share their scholarly work in short presentations. Our goal is to produce a cross-institution interdisciplinary community of scholars working in the field of Black feminist theory.
Institute Faculty:
Adrienne Brown (U. Chicago)
Rebecca Carter (Brown)
Naomi Extra (Rutgers)
Crystal Feimster (Yale)
Jasmine Johnson (U. Pennsylvania)
D. Soyini Madison (Northwestern)
Rebecca Wanzo (Washington University)
Terrion Williamson (U. Illinois-Chicago)
July 31, 2023 - August 4, 2023
The Ordinary
Convener: Jennifer C. Nash
The Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University invited graduate students for a five-day Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute (July 31, 2023-August 4, 2023). The 2023 institute focused on interdisciplinary Black feminist scholarship that attends to the politics, practices, and pleasures of the ordinary. Graduate students had the opportunity to engage closely with prominent scholars and were invited to share their scholarly work in short presentations.
Institute Faculty:
Marquis Bey (Northwestern)
Erica Edwards (Yale)
Jovonna Jones (Boston College)
Tiffany Lethabo King (University of Virginia)
Sherie Randolph (Georgia Tech)
Mercy Romero (Sonoma State)
Calvin Warren (Emory)
Bianca Williams (CUNY Graduate Center)
August 1-5, 2022
Life. Living. Alive.
Convener: Jennifer C. Nash
The 2022 Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute focused on interdisciplinary Black feminist scholarship that attends to Black life and living. The Department invited graduate students (MA, MFA, and/or PhD-track) for a five-day Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute. Graduate students had the opportunity to engage closely with prominent scholars and were invited to share their scholarly work in fifteen-minute presentations. Keeping with the theme of sustaining life, we work to produce a cross-institution community of scholars working in the field of Black feminist theory.
Institute Faculty:
La Marr Jurelle Bruce (UMD)
Sarah Jane Cervenak (UNCG)
Sharon Holland (UNC)
LaMonda Horton-Stallings (Georgetown)
Justin Mann (Northwestern)
Emily Owens (Brown)
Samantha Pinto (UT Austin)
Kevin Quashie (Brown)