Program
Sessions - Day 1
Featured Speaker: Loretta Parham
Loretta Parham, CEO & Library Director of the incorporated Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library, opened day one of the conference with a discussion on what has changed for Historically Black Colleges and Universities since giving the opening keynote for 2017 Liberal Arts Colleges/HBCUs Pre-Conference.
Moderated by Tiwanna Nevels, PhD.
Creating Access to HBCU Collections
Panelists in this session discussed opportunities and challenges in creating access to institutional archives and special collections at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). They touched on topics such as digitization, metadata and discovery, as well as values, priorities, needs, and aspirations of some of these institutions. Related resource: Creating Access to HBCU Library Alliance Archives.
Panelists: Sharon Ferguson Freeman, PhD; Raeshawn McGuffie; Brandon Nightingale. Moderated by Sandra Phoenix.
Community Break: DJ Sterling Warren
After the first two sessions of the day, Sterling Warren joined us for vinyl-only DJ set titled, “Lineage Love and Persevering.” View the annotations for his set. Attendees soaked up the energy as we got ready for the last two sessions of the day.
Instruction, Digital Pedagogy, Bridging the Gap Between Classroom and Library
Panelists in this session discussed instruction generally as well as digital pedagogy, which focuses on the use of technology to enhance learning experiences. Additionally, they discussed collaboration as means to bridge the gap between library and classroom.
Panelists: Siobahn Day Grady, PhD; Ana Ndumu, PhD; DeLisa Minor Harris; Kayla Siddell. Moderated by Francena F.L. Turner, PhD.
Grant Funders and Awardees: A Conversation
What kinds of projects receive funding and what was the application experience like? Panelists in this session discussed their experience as grant funders and grant awardees.
Panelists: Rico Chapman, PhD; Renee Johnson-Thornton, PhD; Allison Levy; Bria Paige. Moderated by Andrea Jackson Gavin.
Wrap Up with Delrisha White
Host Delrisha White hosted a wrap up of the day’s sessions. Questions around bringing voice to things heard throughout the day were discussed.
Sessions - Day 2
Featured Speaker: Lopez Matthews, Jr., PhD
Lopez Matthews, Jr., PhD, State Archivist and Public Records Administrator for the District of Columbia, opened day two of the conference with the presentation, “Digitizing the Black Experience: Lessons Learned Building an Archive at an HBCU.”
Moderated by Tiwanna Nevels, PhD.
Leadership and Upward Mobility at HBCUs
What does leadership look like at some HBCUs and how do folks reach new positions? Panelists in this session discussed their work as leaders at their institutions and offered insight on upward mobility.
Panelists: Kimberley Bugg, PhD; Dana Chandler, PhD; Flavia Eldemire, PhD; Kenvi Phillips, PhD. Moderated by Ida Jones, PhD.
Community Break: DJ Sterling Warren
Community Break: Wellness Session with metaDEN
DJ Sterling Warren returned for day two with the set “Leadership Language and Political Prisoners.” View the annotations for his set. Attendees soaked up the energy as we got ready for the last two sessions of the day.
Concurrently, Chauvet Bishop of metaDEN led a guided meditation and massage, which began with a grounding meditation and acknowledgement of our bodies. We checked on how we were feelings, gave ourselves permission to investigate how our personal and collective histories impact how we feel and move. We were asked for specific areas of pain and discomfort to focus on for the session. Using items commonly found in living and work spaces, Chauvet taught massage techniques and stretches to relive pain and relax into our bodies. Through the sequences, they discussed how everything/everyone is connected and the importance of self-care as resistance in a structure set up for burn out.
Digital Publishing - Lessons Learned from Brown University's Born-Digital Scholarship Publishing Institute
Panelists discussed their experience with digital publishing and their experience at Brown University’s “Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing: Resources and Roadmaps,” a National Endowment for the Humanities supported training institute for scholars who wish to produce interpretive projects that require digital expression and digital publication but may lack the necessary resources and capacity at their home institutions.
Panelists: TaKeia N. Anthony, PhD; La Tanya L. Reese Rogers, PhD; Ashley Robertson Preston, PhD; Marco Robinson, PhD. Moderated by Vanesa Evers.
Care, Curation, and Collaboration: Art, Archives, and Exhibitions at HBCUs and Beyond
Many HBCUs hold art-related collections and maintain galleries or museums on their campuses. Panelists in this session discussed their experience with curatorial practice, museumology, art history, education, working in and/or collaborating with HBCUs.
Wrap Up with Delrisha White
Host Delrisha White hosted a wrap up of the day’s sessions, which concluded the conference.
What was featured
Two Featured Speaker sessions and six panel discussions, all centering Historically Black College and University (HBCU) library workers and alumni in conversations around creating access to HBCU library collections, digital pedagogy, grants and grant-funded projects, leadership and upward mobility at HBCUs, digital publishing, art, archives, and exhibitions at HBCUs, and how these topics relate to authentic collaboration.
Our Goals
The goals of the event were:
- To interrogate ways digital libraries at all institutions might better represent diverse communities and experiences through collections, how technology may be furthering bias and performative diversity work, and what authentic partnerships between HBCUs and other organizations, including predominantly white institutions, might look like.
- To center current and past HBCU workers and HBCU alumni.
- To explore challenges and opportunities at HBCUs.
- To build lasting relationships between speakers, presenters, and attendees through conversations.
- To celebrate the Authenticity Project cohort participants and mentorship in libraries and information science fields generally.
