Residency Interest Group

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Black Information Futures Symposium
February 21–23, 2026
Center for Advances in Libraries, Museums, and Archives (CALMA)
University of Washington Information School, Seattle 

The Center for Advances in Libraries, Museums, and Archives (CALMA) at the University of Washington Information School invites proposals for participation in the inaugural Black Information Futures Symposium, to be held on February 21–23, 2026, in Seattle, Washington.

Serving as initiator and convener for this historic gathering is Tracie D. Hall, Founder of the Black Information Futures Initiative and Distinguished Practitioner in Residence and Professor of Practice at the Information School, whose framing of the Black Information Future focuses on "the ability of Black people to gain equitable analog and digital access to the information and information technologies needed to achieve and sustain social agency, authorship, educational attainment, economic mobility, environmental responsiveness and stewardship, and individual and collective well-being."

Call for Proposals

We invite proposals for short, original presentations that may take the form of:

• Papers (which may be included in the summary of proceedings after the convening)
• Oral or multimedia presentations
• Project or technology demonstrations
• Live interviews or performances
• Collaborative panels (3–5 participants)
• Other innovative and participatory formats

Proposals are expected to be delivered in-person and onsite and should engage with the canopy or concept of Black Information Futures and may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Archival justice and the repair of historical silences and absences
• Critical library and information histories
• The creation and maintenance of Black digital spaces, technologies, and information systems
• Black information theory and knowledge production
• Black traditions of "memory work"
• Analog and digital community informatics initiatives
• Opportunities and threats faced by Black cultural heritage institutions
• Leadership, recruitment, and retention of Black library, archive, cultural heritage institution, and information technology professionals
• Geospatial "counter-mapping" and critical cartographies
• Strategies to identify and mitigate algorithmic bias and racialized AI
• Disinformation, censorship, digital disparity, and surveillance
• Data ethics, privacy, and the commodification of Black images, likeness, or biometric data
• Environmental information stewardship and Black eco-futures

We also encourage interdisciplinary, experimental, and practice-based proposals that engage with the symposium's themes from unexpected or emergent perspectives. Proposals can come from in and outside the United States. However, due to budget constraints, it is expected that those proposing contributions to the symposium will cover their own lodging and travel.

Presentation Format

Presentations will be concise and dynamic (lightning talks, 7 mins; longer presentations or demonstrations, 15 minutes) or take the form of conventional panels and plenaries (45-60 minutes) with time reserved for questions, feedback, and group dialogue throughout the program.

Submissions

Please submit your proposal via this form by Friday, December 5, 2025.

If you have any questions please contact Tracie D. Hall (tdhall@uw.edu) and cc calma@uw.edu.