Stanford University: Race and the Speculative

CCSRE is hosting the "Race and the Speculative" conference as part of the Centering Race Consortium (CRC), a multi-university partnership that includes the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA) at Brown University, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC) at the University of Chicago, and the Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration (RITM) at Yale University. The Consortium is made possible through a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

As we witness ongoing racial violence, attacks on race and ethnic studies programs, and an intensification of racialized political discourse, re-imagining how best to organize our communities, our institutions, and our societies is an urgent pursuit. Our conference theme acknowledges our role as critics and artists who provide guiding insights toward telling new stories and histories even as we imagine alternative futures. We ask how critical insights and scholarship about racial formation and racial justice can enhance our capacities to imagine alternative—that is, fairer—ways of interacting and organizing as communities and institutions.

The conference has been organized by CCSRE Director Paula Moya and MTL PhD candidate Alberto Quintero. Design is by Alberto Quintero. All conference events will be held at the Stanford Humanities Center.

The conference booklet is available here

Friday, January 27, 2023

9:15 - 11:15 am: Panel on Race and Speculative Fictions: Between Deciphering and Speculating

Speakers

Tarren Andrews (English), Yale University

Edgar Garcia (English), University of Chicago

Paula M.L. Moya (English), Stanford University

Moderator

Christine Xiong, PhD Candidate in English, Stanford University

1:00 pm: Artist Conversation with Trinh Mai at the Stanford Humanities Center

Speakers

Trinh Mai, artist, in conversation with Aleesa P. Alexander (Cantor Arts Center), Stanford

3:00 - 5:00 pm: Panel on Race and Speculative Futures: Engineering Sustainable Worlds

Speakers

James Jones (Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems), Stanford University

Myles Lennon (Environment and Society, Anthropology), Brown University

Madiha Tahir (American Studies), Yale University

Moderator

Danielle Roper (English), University of Chicago

5:00 - 6:30 pm: Keynote Lecture by Ramón Saldívar on Speculative Realism and Historical Fantasy

Speaker

Ramón Saldívar (English), Stanford University

Respondent

Annie Atura Bushnell (CCSRE), Stanford

Saturday, January 28, 2023

10:00 am: Artist Conversations with Eden Robinson, Juana Alicia, and Tirso González Araiza

Speakers

Eden Robinson, author, in conversation with Stanford Stegner Fellow Kyle Edwards

Juana Alicia and Tirso González Araiza in conversation with Rose Salseda (Art History), Stanford University

1:30 - 3:30 pm: Panel on Race and Speculative Histories: Paths Not Taken

Speakers

Kiana Murphy (American Studies), Brown University

Kabir Tambar (Anthropology), Stanford University

Allyson Nadia Field (Cinema and Media Studies), University of Chicago

Moderator

Stéphanie Larrieux (CSREA), Brown University