Black Alumni Weekend
BLACK ALUMNI WEEKEND
Past Events
Devon Carbado on Labor
A free public event in the Sawyer Seminar Series
Umrath Lounge
Davarian L. Baldwin on University and Community
A free public event in the Sawyer Seminar Series
Hillman Hall, Clark-Fox Forum
Angela Davis on Academic Freedom
A free public event in the Sawyer Seminar Series
Graham Chapel
AFRO-LATIN AMERICA ON CAMERA: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Abraham Taylor Reparative Research Symposium
RSVP Below
Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall | Washington University Danforth Campus
AFAS SENIOR SHOWCASE: Humanizing the Black Experience
PROTECTION, POWER & PREVENTION: Community Conversations about Sexual Health
4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, MO Food provided.
Urban Futures & Black Life: A Mini-Symposium
Join us for an exploration of the social, political, and cultural forces shaping Black life across the globe. This interdisciplinary symposium will bring together scholars whose work examines the past, present, and future of urban experiences in Africa and the African Diaspora.
Seigle 301
2026 Harvey Scholar Da’juantay Wynter Presents: How Policy Anchors the Double Consciousness of Black America
Christina Carney - Disreputable Women: Black Sex Economies and the Making of San Diego
Race, Reason, and Health
2026 African Film Festival
Join us for the 20th Annual African Film Festival at Washington University, a weekend celebrating powerful storytelling and contemporary cinema from across the African continent. All screenings are free and open to the public.
Brown Hall, 100 | Washington University Danforth Campus
Sports & Society Initiative: Conversation with Tracie Canada
The Sports & Society Initiative is thrilled to be joined in conversation by Tracie Canada, the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University.
DUC-234
‘Sweet Willie Rollbar’s Orientation’ Screening and Talk with Brent Hayes Edwards
Brent Hayes Edwards is the Peng Family Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.
Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge
Book Talk with Karma Frierson: Local Color and Blackness in Veracruz, Mexico
Join the African & African American Studies Department for a book talk with Dr. Karma Frierson exploring Blackness, cultural expression, and Afro-Caribbean heritage in Veracruz, Mexico.
McMillan Cafe
Baldwin-Buckley Debate at Cambridge Union, 1965
This event is sponsored/ cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, the James Baldwin Review, the Department of African and African American Studies, the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, the Center for the Humanities, and the WashU School of Law.
Belonging in Opera is presented by the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Washington University’s Department of Music.
Belonging in Opera is presented by the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Washington University’s Department of Music.
Seigle Hall, Room 208 | Washington University, Danforth Campus
Safe Harbor: Black Women and the Art of Friendship
The Race & Ethnicity Study Group, CRE2: Adéyemi Doss, Belonging Nowhere: Navigating Loss and Memory in Urban Black Male Lives
The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity at WashU welcomes faculty and graduate students from all St. Louis area campuses interested in race and ethnicity as categories of analysis in a broad variety of transdisciplinary contemporary and historical cultural studies work.
Event Location TBD
Raven Maragh-Lloyd Presents at the A&S Research Innovation Showcase
Join us in supporting our faculty member, Raven Maragh-Lloyd, as she presents at this year’s A&S Research Innovation Showcase!
Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall
Robert L Williams Lecture, Psychological & Brain Sciences: Gloria Ladson-Billings, What in the World are We Thinking? The Place of Culture in Learning
The Department of African & African American Studies invites our students, faculty, and community members to attend this year’s Robert L. Williams Lecture, hosted by the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Wilson Hall, Room 214 | Washington University Danforth Campus
2026 Environmental Research Symposium: “Powering Change: How the Energy Transition is Shaped by People, Places and Policy”
PÉLAGIE X: Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Enjoy a free screening of PÉLAGIE X, a new short film by two time Academy Award winning Breakwater Studios, followed by a panel discussion exploring the life and legacy of Pélagie Amoureux, a formerly enslaved woman whose 18th century home in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, still stands today.
Umrath Lounge
Resistance & Underground Railroads to Mexican Spaces
Join us for a lecture by Ohio State University historian María Esther Hammack exploring hidden freedom journeys of enslaved people from Missouri into Mexican spaces. Related materials from the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections will be on display before and after the lecture.
Olin Library
Critical Perspectives on Minneapolis and the Current Moment
Join the African & African American Studies and American Culture Studies departments for Critical Perspectives on Minneapolis and the Current Moment, a timely conversation featuring WashU scholars and community voices exploring race, justice, and the social conditions shaping our present.
Food will be provided.
Food will be provided.
Wilson Hall, Room 214 | Washington University Danforth Campus
Douglass Day
Drop in for a collaborative digital transcribe-a-thon in celebration of the birthday of Frederick Douglass, noted abolitionist, orator, and U.S. Ambassador to Haiti. Together with Douglass Day events across the country, we will be transcribing documents from the African American Perspectives Collection at the Library of Congress. Volunteers will be available to assist you with learning to operate the digital transcription interface.
Olin Library, Room 142
The Race & Ethnicity Study Group, CRE2: Donavan Ramon, Keeping It Real: Black Men, Fight Scenes and Self Making
The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity at WashU welcomes faculty and graduate students from all St. Louis area campuses interested in race and ethnicity as categories of analysis in a broad variety of transdisciplinary contemporary and historical cultural studies work.
More details coming soon!
More details coming soon!
Location TBD
Book Talk with Samuel Shearer: Kilgali A New City for the End of the World
Join University Libraries for a faculty book talk featuring AFAS professor, Dr. Samuel Shearer, who will discuss his new book on the transformation of Kigali and the global implications of sustainable urbanism.
RSVP Required -- See Below
RSVP Required -- See Below
Wilson Hall 214
The Black Rep Show: The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body
Stay after the show for a post-performance conversation with playwright Lisa B. Thompson and WashU Law Professor Adrienne Davis as they reflect on The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body, a vibrant and affirming work that celebrates Black women, community, and survival.
Purchase Tickets Below!
Purchase Tickets Below!
A.E Hotchner Studio Theatre, Washington University
Artist Talk: Ballaké Sissoko, kora
in conversation with Patrick Burke and El Hadji Samba Amadou Diallo
Pillsbury Theatre, 560 Music Center
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration: The Annual Celebration
The 39th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration (Danforth Campus)
Monday, January 19, 2026
Graham Chapel, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.*
Theme: Pressing Our Way: Striving for Change
Monday, January 19, 2026
Graham Chapel, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.*
Theme: Pressing Our Way: Striving for Change
Graham Chapel | Washington University Danforth Campus
Africa's Past, Present, and Future: Perspective from an African Diplomat
Join the Department of African and African American Studies for an engaging talk with Dr. Koang Tutlam Dung, a distinguished African diplomat and medical doctor, as he shares insights on Africa’s evolving role in global affairs.
Simon 1
The James Baldwin Lecture - Achieving Our Country: Baldwin and U.S. Politics Today
Save the Date!
Emerson Auditorium | Washington University
‘Unimaginable Atrocities’: The Neglected Catastrophe in Sudan and the History of Genocide in the Region
Scott Straus, Professor and Chair, Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley — Holocaust Memorial Lecture
Umrath Lounge