Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute

Fifth Annual Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute

BFTSI 2026 Crisis August 3-7, 2026
Duke University - Department of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies
August 3-7, 2026
 
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 crisis. 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:
Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman (Brown)
Cameron Awkward-Rich (UMass Amherst)
Jasmine Nichole Cobb (Duke)
Aimee Meredith Cox (NYU)
Haylee Harrell (University of Houston) 
Tami Navarro (Drew University)
Kaneesha Parsard (University of Chicago)
C. Riley Snorton (Columbia)
 
Application Process:
Twenty participants will be accepted into the Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute, ten from Triangle-area (North Carolina) universities and ten from other universities. We welcome applications from all graduate students with an interest in Black feminist theory, broadly defined. 
 
 
The due date for the application is Monday, December 15, 2025. Successful applicants will be notified by January 15, 2026.
 
Details of Participation:
Participants from institutions outside the Triangle area will arrive on Sunday, August 2, 2026 and depart on Saturday, August 8, 2026. Lodging is provided free of charge for all out-of-town students. Each out-of-town participant will also receive $400 toward travel expenses. 
 
All participants will be provided with breakfast and lunch from Monday to Friday, and there will be a group dinner on Thursday evening.
 
The academic sessions begin on the morning of Monday, August 3 and end in the afternoon on Friday, August 7. Sessions will run from approximately 9:30AM to 3:30PM and participants are expected to be on time and attend all sessions.
 
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 (BFTSI) has designated a thematic focus area as a point of exploration.

You can learn more about our past institutes by clicking the titles below.

August 4 - 8, 2025

New BFTSI poster

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.

Attendees of BFTSI 2025
BFTSI 2025 Attendees (Official Group Photo)

Institute Faculty:

Bimbola Akinbola (Northwestern)

J. Kameron Carter (UC Irvine)

Kara Keeling (USC)

Amber Musser (CUNY Graduate Center)

Tamika Nunley (Duke)

Sa Whitley (Arizona State)

Patricia J. Williams (Northeastern)

Tiffany Willoughby- Herard (UC Irvine)

Home

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)

A light orange flyer with copy pertaining to the 2023 Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute

July 31 - 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)

 

A light orange flyer with copy pertaining to the 2022 Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute

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)