This fall 2026 seminar will focus on the experience of Black people and Blackness in Europe over time. At a time when questions of race, nationality, identity, and belonging are increasingly central in our domestic and international politics and are visible on our television screens and social media feeds via debates over borders and status and assertions about the lives we lead and the histories we remember, this event invites a number of important scholars to discuss how Black people and Blackness has operated in Europe over time. These scholars offer a breadth of research on the topic from colonization to the current war in Ukraine and geographic variety from Germany, Africa, Italy, Denmark, and the former Soviet Union. This event offers the opportunity for cross campus collaboration and interdisciplinarity that will benefit faculty and students alike reinforcing the mission of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to provide mutually reinforcing academic programs, generate new knowledge through scholarly and research endeavors, and pioneer new fields of learning.
Participants:
Silke Hackenesch, University of Cologne
Cristina Lombardi-Diop, Loyola Chicago
Michael McEachrane, Carnegie Mellon
Marissa Moorman, UW-Madison
Michelle Moyd, Michigan State University
Sabrina Thomas, UW-Madison
Kira Thurman, University of Michigan
Eliana Vãgãlãu, Loyola Chicago
Jamele Watkins, University of Minnesota
Ethelene Whitmire, UW-Madison
Schedule:
Monday, October 5th
10:15am Breakfast and Welcome by seminar organizer Sabrina Thomas
11:00-11:50am Panel One/Moderator
12:00-12:50pm Panel Two/Moderator
1:00-2:15pm Lunch
7:00pm Welcome & Introduction: Christy Clark-Pujara, Chair Department of African American Studies
7:10-8:00pm: Keynote: Kimberly St. Julian Varnon (University of Pennsylvania)
8:10-9:00pm: Reception
Tuesday, October 6th
9:00-11:00am Breakfast/Graduate Student Workshop: Researching and Recovering Race in European records
For more information about the seminar and the participants, please visit: https://mosseprogram.wisc.edu/event/afropean/