Archives are valuable sites of memory and knowledge, as well as sites of violence and power. In a hyper-saturated world of post-truth and fake news, archives provide a powerful tool to understand the past, interpret the present and imagine better futures. Following Walter Benjamin’s saying, scholars have a responsibility to “brush history against the grain” when delving into archival documents, to find what is absent or hidden and make it speak again. This conference presents scholars with the opportunity to explore various questions that arise when facing archives as dynamic sites of memory: How do we challenge and deal with archives as sites of power? How can queer and marginal subjects be found or salvaged in archives that erase their presence? What practices and procedures are the most effective in dealing with archival documents? How should scholars proceed in filling out and reconstructing absences and holes in the archive? What are the implications of living archives? How can scholars interact with and preserve them?

We encourage proposals that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• CHALLENGING THE ARCHIVE We welcome submissions exploring new ways to think archival practices and seek to liberate archival research from colonial and epistemic violence.
• QUEERING THE ARCHIVE We seek contributions focusing on salvaging queer and marginal subjects from archival documents.
• FACING THE ARCHIVE We encourage proposals that explore practical matters and issues concerning archival research.
• UNCOVERING THE ARCHIVE We seek proposals dealing with absences and holes in the archive, as well as exploring ways to reconstruct the missing and uncover the hidden.
• LIVING ARCHIVE We invite submissions considering different sites of knowledge and memory as living archives and their implications.

This graduate conference will be held in-person at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) over April 11th and 12th, 2025. Hybrid  presentations via Zoom will be considered as well. The conference will include a keynote address given by Prof. Javier Guerrero of Princeton University.

Proposals should include a 250-word abstract and brief biography (150 words). We accept submissions in English, Spanish & Portuguese.  Submissions should be sent to https://forms.gle/s1WMNeMmhZgY5kqG7