{"id":3356,"date":"2026-03-26T01:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/ubgha\/?page_id=3356"},"modified":"2026-03-26T01:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:30:45","slug":"milton-plesur-graduate-conference-digital-program","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/ubgha\/milton-plesur-graduate-conference-digital-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Milton Plesur Graduate Conference Digital Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

About the Milton Plesur Graduate Conference<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"A
Dr. Milton Plesur<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Milton Plesur Graduate Conference was named in honor of Dr. Milton Plesur<\/strong>. Plesur was a former professor in the Department of History (1955-1987), whose profound impact on the University at Buffalo included a staunch commitment to public scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 Milton Plesur Graduate Conference honors Dr. Plesur\u2019s commitment to public scholarship by showcasing the social and cultural impacts of the humanities and social sciences beyond institutional walls. We believe producing knowledge is not relegated to particular silos of thought; rather, knowledge is built from active collaboration with our academic colleagues and the broader public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBreaking the Silo\u201d is a celebration not only of interdisciplinary and cross-departmental scholarship but our combined strengths as social scientists, artists, and theorists. We are stronger together, and this strength is reflected in the graduate panelists\u2019 work featured in this conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keynote Speaker Highlight: Dr. Susan Burch<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"The
Jensen family quilt. Photograph by Alexanderportraits.com, courtesy of Jack Jensen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Dr. Susan Burch <\/strong>is a professor of American Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont. Her research and teaching interests focus on histories of deaf, disability, Mad, race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, and gender and sexuality. Material culture, oral history, and inclusive design play an important role in her work. Burch has received numerous grants and awards for her work, including an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, National Archives regional residency fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities and Mellon Foundation grants, and a Fulbright Scholars award. Her latest book, Committed: Native Families, Institutionalization, and Remembering (UNCP, 2021) centers on peoples\u2019 lived experiences inside and outside the Canton Asylum, a federal psychiatric institution created specifically to detain American Indians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program of Events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Friday, March 27th, 2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
UB North Campus Davis Hall, Rm 101<\/em><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

3:00-3:30 PM<\/strong> Registration & Welcome<\/em>                               <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

3:30-4:00 PM<\/strong> <\/em> Opening Remarks<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Alyssa Martin<\/strong> (History)<\/em> “A (Re)Introduction to the Plesur Conference & Introducing Dr. Burch” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4:00 PM-5:30 PM <\/em><\/strong> Keynote Speech & Moderated Discussion<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Susan Burch (Dept. of American Studies, Middlebury College)<\/em> “Edge work: reflections on learning, unlearning, and reimagining.” Discussion facilitated by Alyssa Martin.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5:30-7:30 PM<\/strong> Reception<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, March 28th, 2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
UB North Campus Natural Sciences Complex<\/em>
Panel A Series, Rm 218
Panel B Series, Rm 222
Breakfast & Lunch, Rm 228<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

9:00-10:00 AM<\/strong> Registration Check-In & Continental Breakfast<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

10:00-11:15 AM<\/strong> Panels 1A & 1B<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Panel 1A<\/strong> \u201cDisciplinary Interventions: New Approaches to Academic Pedagogy and Method\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Dr. Cari Casteel (Dept of History)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Teya Juarez<\/strong> (Theater & Performance)<\/em> \u201cModes of Dissemination: The Dramaturgical Zine”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaac Kolding<\/strong> (English)<\/em> \u201cAsking Big Questions in Humanities Scholarship Outreach\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachael Ojeleye<\/strong> (Linguistics)<\/em> \u201cDiscourse, Fragment Answers, and Focus Marking In Yor\u00f9b\u00e1\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawa Saleh<\/strong> (English) <\/em>\u201cThe Desire to Be Right in Perpetuity: Detecting the Hidden Insecurities in Said\u2019s Orientalism\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany Nhan<\/strong> (School of Social Work)<\/em>\u201c\u2018Where Are You From?…\u2019 A Qualitative Study on Asian Americans\u2019 Perspectives of Discrimination & Oppression”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panel 1B<\/strong> \u201cResistances and Resonances: Approaching the Past, Present, and Future through Visual Analysis\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Dr. Robin Mitchell (Dept. of History)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Damilola Fagite<\/strong> (History)<\/em> \u201cOut in the Darkness:<\/em> Postpartum Depression and Motherhood in Colonial Nigeria\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam King-Shaw<\/strong> (Global Gender & Sexuality Studies)<\/em> \u201cClaiming and Creating Ancestors: Black Queer Archives and Cross-Temporal Desire in The Watermelon Woman<\/em> and Looking for Langston<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly Dunfield<\/strong> (Indigenous Studies) <\/em>\u201cBeyond Picasso: Eurocentric Modernism and Indigenous Collage\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Sullivan<\/strong> (History)<\/em> “The Question of Agency: The Spatial Creation of Inclusion and Exclusion in Zion City”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11:30 AM-12:45 PM<\/strong> Panels 2A & 2B<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Panel 2A <\/strong>\u201cSovereignty and Statehood: Imperialism and the Boundaries of Personhood\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Dr. Robert Caldwell (Dept. of Indigenous Studies)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Kailey McDonald<\/strong> (Global Gender & Sexuality Studies)<\/em> \u201cClear the Land: Wastelands, Land Use, and Relationality in Narratives of Colonial Nation-Building\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oluwafisayo Ogundoro<\/strong> (Africana & American Studies)<\/em> \u201cWorking Mothers and Unsustainable Childcare Policy in the Time of Crisis: A Social History of COVID-19 in NY and Georgia\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delaney O\u2019Connell<\/strong> (Indigenous Studies)<\/em> \u201c\u2018Former\u2019 to Future: Reinscribing Indian Territory on the Map of Oklahoma\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alyssa Warrior<\/strong> (Indigenous Studies) <\/em>\u201cAn Analysis of the Cattaraugus Creek\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juan Basallo<\/strong> (Romance Languages & Literatures) <\/em>\u201c\u2018Las voces del estrecho\u2019 a graveyard in the sea\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panel 2B <\/strong>\u201cLocal Studies, Local Impacts: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the History and Culture of Western New York\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Dr. Sarah Handley-Cousins (Dept. of History)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Joshua Allen<\/strong> (Global Gender and Sexuality Studies<\/em>) “Racial empires of sensation: Sense and sentimentality at the 1901 Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, New York”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kyle Weinsheimer<\/strong> (History)<\/em> \u201cNobody Dead, Everybody Dying: A Critical Retelling of the Buffalo Uprising of 1967\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonas Adams<\/strong> (Sociology & Criminology)<\/em> <\/strong>\u201cFuture Projections of City and Nature in the Making of a Rust Belt Road\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Pitonyak<\/strong> (Africana & American Studies)<\/em> “Film Distribution and Exhibition: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Challenged Small and Independent Theatres in the Buffalo-Niagara Region”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:00-2:00 PM<\/strong> Catered Lunch<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2:15-3:30 PM <\/strong>Panel 3A<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Panel 3A<\/strong> \u201cWriting as Praxis: Exploring Trauma, Relationship Building, and Identity Making through Narrative\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Moderated by Dr. Michael Rembis (Dept. of History)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Gagne<\/strong> (English)<\/em> \u201cGal Pals: Romantic Friendship, Best of Friends, and Lesbianism in Twentieth-Century United States\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah Gordon<\/strong> (Global Gender & Sexuality Studies) <\/em>\u201cTidal Spills: Trauma, Temporality, and the Sticky Matter of Intra-Activity\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kamla Persaud<\/strong> (English)<\/em> \u201cTruth-telling in Foucauldian Genealogy as Psychoanalytic Cure\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chijioke Ngobili<\/strong> (History)<\/em> \u201cOf African Pains: A Critical Review of the Study of African Traumas from Mid-Twentieth Century to Present\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank You to Our Sponsors<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"The<\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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