Oct 23 2026

Black Studies Under Fire

SJI at ASA

October 23, 2026

10:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Location

UIC Student Center East, Room 301

Address

750 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607

Cost

FREE

Calendar

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Join us on Friday, October 23, 2026 for a panel discussion (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM) followed by a luncheon and breakout sessions (12:00 - 1:00 PM) to examine the ongoing repression of Black Studies programs across the United States, and possible paths forward.

Facilitated by Charlene Carruthers (Founding Director, Black Youth Project 100). Panelists include Jafari Allen (Columbia University), Roderick Ferguson (Yale University), Jaden Janak (St. Olaf College), Barbara Ransby (University of Illinois Chicago), Ashanté Reese (University of Texas at Austin), and Ula Taylor (University of California, Berkeley).

On March 5, 2026, a cohort of colleagues at Columbia University led by Jafari Allen convened a national forum on Black studies in the wake of a series of Black and Africana studies departments and programs being cut, defunded, and consolidated across the country within the span of a few short weeks. This session, an extension of that critical March convening, provides a space for Black studies scholars to collectively strategize how to respond to the escalating attacks on the field and on scholars and students of color more broadly. The panel discussion will be followed by lunch and an opportunity to gather with colleagues in smaller break-out sessions.

This program is free and open to both ASA conference attendees and the public, but space is limited.

RSVP today at go.uic.edu/SJIxASA-2026.

This program is a part of the four-day Social Justice Institute, a unique collaboration between SJI and the American Studies Association. Hosted primarily at the Chicago Justice Gallery, SJI’s art and event space on the UIC campus, the Institute is designed to foster and deepen connections between social justice scholars and to bring members of the ASA community together with some of the key thinkers, organizers, writers, artists, and community members who are working toward social justice in Chicago and its surrounding communities.

RSVP today!

Contact

Social Justice Initiative
sjiuic@gmail.com

Date posted

Aug 12, 2026

Date updated

Aug 21, 2026

Speakers

Charlene A. Carruthers | Facilitator | University of California - Riverside

Charlene A. Carruthers, PhD (she/her) is a cultural worker and Black Studies scholar. A practitioner of telling more complete stories, her work examines Black placemaking, Black feminist literatures, and abolition. Charlene’s work spans more than 20 years of community organizing across racial, gender, and economic justice movements. She is a Presidents Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California - Riverside in the Department of Black Study. Charlene served as the founding national director of BYP100 (Black Youth Project 100), and is author of the bestselling book, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements.

Ashanté M. Reese | Panelist | University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Ashanté M. Reese is an award-winning author, anthropologist, and teacher. Weaving together food justice, geography, and care, she offers stories about the practices that sustain and free us. Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness (W.W. Norton, 2026) is her latest book. She teaches at The University of Texas at Austin.

Jaden Janak | Panelist | St. Olaf College

Jaden Janak (they/he) is an Assistant Professor of History at St. Olaf College and a Senior Fellow with the Center for Applied Transgender Studies. Their research focuses on U.S. prison abolition organizing, LGBTQ+ radical politics, and popular culture. His current book project, Experiments in Freedom: Present Histories of an Abolitionist Future, explores the development of abolitionist politics in local and national organizations from the 1990s to the present. Their scholarship can be found in journals and outlets such as Liminalities, GLQ, Behemoth, Hood Communist, and AGNI. Outside of their research, Jaden organizes with various abolitionist collectives and is an avid supporter of women’s sports.