D Hutchinson was a doctoral candidate in History that brought joy and intellectual community to every space across the University of Michigan campus. This conference seeks to not only channel the spirit of intellectual kinship D generously shared with us but to also create space for rigorous engagement with D’s central research questions. We have curated a day of learning that invites an interdisciplinary audience of critical thinkers to key questions related to Black queer kinship, history, and possibility.

The conference will bring together D’s beloved family and friends, interdisciplinary scholars, as well as U-M faculty, graduate students, and alumni who, over the course of two days, will reflect on D’s most catalytic research interests as well as their profound scholastic engagement with Black queer kinship.

This event will be livestreamed here: https://umich.zoom.us/my/bqkhconference

Conference Schedule:
Thursday, October 19
Rackham Assembly Hall

6:45 pm | Welcome + Degree Conferral Ceremony
Angela Dillard, LaKisha Simmons

7:15 pm | Arts Showcase and Celebration
Ahya Simone

Friday, October 20
1014 Tisch Hall

10:00 am | Welcome + Conference Keynote
Darius Bost

11:00 am | Roundtable 1: Celebrating D as student, friend and relative
Jennifer Jones, Eshe Sherley, M Aziz, Casidy Campbell

1:30 pm | Roundtable 2: Kinship & the Healing Work of Queer Theory
SaraEllen Strongman, Sydney Tunstall, Mix Mann, Mara Johnson

3:15 pm | Roundtable 3: Current topics in Theory and Histories
Andrea Bolivar, LaVelle Ridley, Cassius Adair, Gabriel Johnson

4:45 pm | Closing
Anna Almore, Adrian King