Second Foundings: Universities, Slavery, and Struggles for Justice in Texas and Beyond
A conference hosted at Rice University, in collaboration with Universities Studying Slavery and the Texas Consortium of Universities and Colleges Studying Slavery and Race.
October 10-13, 2025
Rice University (Houston, Texas)
Keynote address by Ruth J. Simmons, President Emerita of Brown University
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
In 2025, the fall conference of the international Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium will be hosted in Houston, Texas, on the campus of Rice University, whose Task Force on Slavery, Segregation, and Racial Injustice recently concluded its formal work. Organized in collaboration with members of the Texas Consortium of Universities and Colleges Studying Slavery and Race, this conference will be the first meeting of the USS held west of the Mississippi River, as well as the first at a host institution opened after 1900.
As we gather in Texas during the 160th anniversary year of Juneteenth, the conference will consider questions including: How have the legacies of slavery and segregation shaped schools founded after abolition, including during the “Second Founding” of Reconstruction? When, why, and with what results were formerly segregated institutions re-founded as desegregating universities in the twentieth century? How can histories of slavery, segregation, and desegregation be seen on campus landscapes? As we approach the 20th anniversary of Brown University’s 2006 Slavery and Justice Report, where should the field of study that it helped to found go next? What roles have universities played in struggles for justice in the wake of slavery and segregation? What actions can and should they take now and in the future?
The Program Committee for the conference invites proposals for papers related to the conference themes or the work of Universities Studying Slavery more generally. We encourage submissions of papers; full panel proposals (up to four papers plus a panel chair and/or commenter); proposals for workshops; and posters or exhibits that spotlight archival research and digital projects. Students and independent scholars are welcome. Proposals should be uploaded here as a single PDF. Proposals for full sessions (whether panels or workshops) should be submitted as a single PDF that includes a 125-word maximum session description with proposed title, brief bios (100 words maximum) for each participant, and (for panels of papers) a 250-word maximum description of each paper. All other proposals (for single papers, posters, and exhibits) should be submitted as a single PDF with a 250-word description and 100-word bio.
Proposals are DUE BY JUNE 11, 2025.
For more information, contact Dr. Caleb McDaniel at caleb.mcdaniel@rice.edu or 713-348-2556.
Major funding for this conference has been provided by Creative Ventures Funds from the Office of Research and by the Humanities Research Center.
Program Committee
- Caleb McDaniel, host (Rice University)
- Daniel Domingues da Silva (Rice)
- Portia Hopkins (Rice)
- Sarah Beth Kaufman (Trinity University)
- Karen Kossie-Chernyshev (Texas Southern University)
- Jeffrey L. Littlejohn (Sam Houston State University)
- Marco Robinson (Prairie View A&M University)
- Norma Santamaria (Rice)
- Claire Wolnisty (Austin College)
