What is “Home,” and how does it attend to Black Feminist interdisciplinary scholarship? That is the theme of the third annual Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute, which will be held from August 5 to August 9 at the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (GSF).
“Home” will be addressed through topics including domesticity, belonging, homemaking, home-breaking, sanctuary, built environments, world-making, unsafety at home and others. Jennifer Nash, Jean Fox O'Barr Professor and GSF’s Department Chair, credited colleague Sarah Jane Cervenak for proposing the theme.
“She planted the seed,” said Nash. “We’ve tried to make the themes capacious enough that lots of different folks from lots of different disciplines can find ways into them.”
One of the organizers’ goals is to create an intellectually invigorating space for a wide variety of disciplines, from nursing to computer science, to be able to network.
To highlight the dynamic research of the faculty incorporated by the institute, Nash said that “it's been a priority for me to have disciplinary mix, but also for the faculty and the students to come from a mix of public and private institutions, and to have geographic diversity.” To that end, this year’s institute invites faculty from a wide range of universities on the East Coast.
While choosing to prioritize the variety of places where Black feminist work is taking place, the institute also emphasizes the creation of spaces for conversations across time, generations and age. “I think it's really important for our graduate students to have access to Black feminist faculty at institutions across the country, who they can call on and just say ‘Hey, I need intellectual help’ or ‘Hey, I need some mentoring,'" said Nash.
The institute is not only paving the way for extraordinary and unconventional work in Black feminist theory, but it is also contributing to a continuous camaraderie for past participants and future graduate students.
“It’s amazing to see the graduate students every year. That’s what makes this worthwhile,” said Nash.