Annual Conference

In collaboration with colleagues conducting research in various disciplines at the University at Buffalo, HI hosts an annual gathering of notable national (and international) scholars in conversation with UB faculty and graduate students, framed through the lens of the humanities to address timely topics of concern.

2024-25 Conference

  • Black Studies and the Crises of Our Times
    1/21/25
    Black Studies and the Crises of Our Times responds broadly to the impact of the field since its formal establishment over 50 years ago. This multi-day conference, organized by the Department of Africana and American Studies in conjunction with the Humanities Institute, will articulate why we need Black Studies more than ever for both its national critique and its global articulations of political community.

The 2024-25 Humanities Institute annual conference will take place March 12-14, 2025, convened by Rinaldo Walcott, Professor and Carl V. Granger Chair of the department of Africana and American Studies at the University at Buffalo.

Audience viewing presentation with speaker in background.

Humanities to the Rescue (2018-2023)

From 2018-2023, the public program Humanities to the Rescue was developed and implemented as a companion event to the Buffalo Humanities Festival, dovetailing with the chosen theme for the year. In total, four iterations of Humanities to the Rescue were presented (with one cancellation proceeded by a hiatus due to COVID-19). In 2024, HI re-implemented the Annual Conference as a focused investment into UB's humanities-based research activities.