2025: Centering the Black Sacred Arts: Research, Education, and Public Life

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Submit a proposal here

Apply before December 15
Daughter of Yemeya, by Vanessa Charlot

In May 2025, the ISM’s fourth Black Sacred Arts conference will convene scholars and artists to consider the theoretical and practical work of centering the Black sacred arts in the academy and beyond. It will explore ways to incorporate the study and practice of the Black sacred arts in curricula and public life with the aim of uncovering new methodologies, epistemologies and pedagogies offered through their study. 

The conference will address questions such as: How does centering the Black sacred arts in disciplinary discussions push various fields of study to imagine new theoretical paradigms and methodologies? What are some of the theological and philosophical approaches that are uncovered through the study of Black expressive culture and religion? And what can be gleaned when the Black sacred arts become the heuristic? 

The conference will further seek out research and case studies that illustrate the profound losses that have accompanied the exclusion of the Black sacred arts in educational and institutional settings. The interdisciplinary conversations we hope will emerge from this conference will discover novel terrain through centering the Black sacred arts in discussions of sonic, visual, and other sensoria that cut across religious, geographic, or social categories throughout Africa and beyond.

Accepted presenters and performers will receive an honorarium of $250 to help defray the cost of travel to New Haven. In addition, they will be provided with hotel accommodations and several meals at the conference.

Photo: Daughter of Yemeya, by Vanessa Charlot. (Miami, FL 2019. Digital).

Proposal Application Details

We invite proposals for presentations that address topics including but not limited to:

  • Globalization of the Black sacred arts
  • The Black sacred arts in non-traditional spaces
  • Phenomenological approaches to the Black sacred arts
  • Black sacred arts and popular culture
  • The Black sacred arts and the formation and maintenance of identity
  • The Black sacred arts and the ontological turn
  • Pedagogy and the Black sacred arts 
  • Language, conceptual frameworks, and the Black sacred arts
  • Public life and the Black sacred arts
  • Cosmological and epistemological issues in the study of the Black sacred arts
  • Artists as mediums, prophetic figures, and teachers
  • Problematizing methodologies of research in ritual contexts 
  • Interrogating and decolonizing frameworks and terms associated with the study of the Black sacred arts
  • Addressing the challenges of researching and teaching the Black sacred arts in secular contexts

Submit abstracts at this link by December 15, 2024. If submitting a proposal for an organized panel, the panel organizer or chair should upload a PDF containing the panel title and abstracts from all panel participants. Applicants will need to open a free account with Submittable before uploading abstracts. The following information for individual and panel proposals is requested:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Affiliation
  • 150-word bio or personal narrative
  • Paper or panel title
  • 300-word panel and individual paper abstracts

Questions about the conference or abstract submission process may be directed to ismconferences@yale.edu. 

We welcome abstracts for individual papers and organized panels from advanced graduate students, faculty, scholars working outside the academy, and practitioners. Individual papers and presentations will be allotted 20 minutes apiece; organized panels may include 3-4 presenters. Abstracts should be approximately 300 words in length and accompanied by a 150-word bio or personal narrative. For an organized panel, please include the panel title, a panel abstract, and all individual abstracts compiled together as one submission. 

We also invite proposals for alternative formats that incorporate interactive engagement with artistic and ritual phenomena, such as lecture-demonstrations, sonic activations, and listening and viewing sessions. Those interested in pursuing alternative presentational modalities should describe aspects of format and proposed length in their abstract. Performers’ abstracts may contain one URL for a multimedia supplement directly related to the presentation. The conference will be conducted in-person in New Haven.

Abstracts due: Friday, December 15, 2024

Acceptances announced: February 15, 2025

Schedule announced and conference registration opens: March 1, 2025

Daniel Avorgbedor, University of Ghana

Charlene Désir, Nova Southeastern University

Collin Edouard, Yale University

Steven Friedson, University of North Texas

Ayodeji Ogunnaike, University of Virginia

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels

Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels is assistant professor of African American studies at Emory University. 

Read more about Dr. Daniels.
Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels

Dr. Jacob K. Olupona

Dr.Jacob K. Olupona is professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University and professor of African religion at Harvard Divinity School. 

Read more about Dr. Olupona
Jacob Olupona