What does it mean to do Black queer/trans studies now? Amidst intensifying state violence both in and outside of the academy, this graduate conference is an invitation to explore the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and power through a global lens. The conference will be a space for inter- and cross-disciplinary dialogue amongst scholars of Black queer and trans life and politics, capaciously defined. 

We welcome (and encourage!) proposals on any subject related to Black queer/trans studies, broadly defined. We are especially eager to highlight work that reflects on Black queer and trans geographies: from studies of Black queer urban worldmaking (J.T. Roane, Kemi Adeyemi) to investments in African queer and trans futures (B. Camminga) to meditations on intimacy across the diaspora (Omise’eke Tinsley, Keguro Macharia, Jafari Allen), recent scholarship has illuminated the importance of geography and movement to Black queer/trans living. Work on these topics of geographies might ask: How are modes of Black queer/trans living mapped and unmapped across time and space? How does movement—of bodies, of capital, of meaning—transform our attachments to the environment? How have the speculative futures of Black spaces been valued and commodified? What is the role of Black worldmaking practices that queer and trans landscapes?

Topics may include but are not limited to:

-       Black queer urbanism: gentrification, displacement, deviance, labor, and alternative worldmaking in Black city life

-       Decolonial, postcolonial, and queer of color critique: Black queer/trans thinking beyond Western epistemologies, religious formations, and narratives

-       Diaspora(s) and migration: asylum, statelessness, and border regimes through a Black queer/trans studies lens

-       Black transnational feminisms in/of the Global South: liberation, bodies, the erotic, and the flesh

-       (Multi-)languaging Black queer and trans life: translation, (il)legibility, literature, and personal narrative

-       Global Black queer/trans futurisms: speculative worldmaking in transnational context

-       Queer/Trans methods: journeys in locating Black queer/trans stories 

We welcome submissions from undergraduate seniors and graduate students at any stage of their career. We are especially excited to support scholars from public universities, HBCUs, and independent researchers. Interested candidates should submit a 250-word abstract and short bio by March 15, 2026 through this Google form: https://forms.gle/whrP295Ebcdt6gCp6.