Sandy Alexandre’s research spans the late nineteenth-century to present-day black American literature and culture. Her first book, The Properties of Violence: Claims to Ownership in Representations of Lynching (Mississippi 2012), uses the history of American lynching violence as a framework to understand matters concerning displacement, property ownership, and the American pastoral ideology in a literary context.
Sandhya Shukla is Professor of English and American studies at the University of Virginia, where she is also an affiliate faculty member of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies.
Robert Trent Vinson is the Commonwealth Professor of African American & African Studies, Director & Chair of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American & African Studies at the University of Virginia, and a Research Associate at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He is a scholar and teacher of 19th and 20th century African & African Diaspora history, specializing in the transnational connections between southern Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean.
A four-day event honoring the career of Deborah E. McDowell, "Love, All": Tending the Tradition celebrates McDowell's intellectual production, trailblazing leadership, and groundbreaking contributions to the field of African American literary studies and Black feminism as a scholar, editor, mentor, colleague, and friend. This conference gathers scholars across fields and generations to share papers focused on the vast impact of Deborah McDowell's work and legacy.
To steward a Black literary, intellectual, and feminist tradition, as Deborah E. McDowell has done so carefully, is to practice a salvaged love—not as sentimentality but as a mode of attention and form of ethical engagement that refuses erasure, embraces complexity without resolution, and tends to the wounded archives and living textures of Black life with an ethic of care that is at once rigorous, insurgent, and tender; and in return, such stewardship is to be held in a reciprocal embrace by those who recognize, across time and struggle, the quiet, radical devotion of a life spent loving this tradition into continued existence. That recognition and love are felt from all corners (Love, All).
Register:
All conference events are free and open to the public. We ask that guests register by May 8, 2026. If you plan to attend the conference from out of town, we urge guests to make travel arrangements and book lodging as early as possible due to a concurrent major event in Charlottesville, Virginia.
All conference proceedings will be livestreamed via Zoom. Register for the Zoom webinar.
Attend:
Shuttle service from conference hotels:
There will be a shuttle service to/from both hotels leaving in the morning (approximately 7:30 AM from Hilton DoubleTree and 8:10 AM from Courtyard Marriott) and evening following conference proceedings (approximately 30-minutes following the last scheduled event). Exact times will be confirmed by May 15.
Parking:
Guests may park in the C1 parking lot on UVA grounds.
Handicap parking - guests who require handicap parking may park in any and all designated handicap spots, so long as they have the necessary handicap parking tags. The best spots will be in front of Garrett Hall and/or Monroe Hall.
Map for on Grounds activities for parking (C1), Minor Hall, and Colonnade Club (handicap accessibility noted in blue)
Additional details:
Gender neutral bathrooms are available during the conference. Be advised that there are no gender neutral bathrooms in the Pavilion building of the Boar's Head Inn, guests can use the family restrooms in the building across from the Pavilion near the Ballroom event space.
Quiet Rooms: we will designate a number of quiet rooms for guests who would like to rest and recharge during the conference. These will be in the Woodson main office, Minor 108.
Note that there are no official conference activities scheduled for the evening of Friday, May 22 to allow for guests to make their own plans. Attendees may choose to gather at some of the Woodson Institute's recommended restaurants, or check out a more comprehensive guide to Charlottesville for guests.
Contribute
Financial Contributions
We are accepting co-sponsorships from UVA offices, Departments and external organizations to support this event. All co-sponsors will be listed in the program and on the conference website. Platinum and Gold sponsors will have the space for more prominent advertising during the programming. Please write to mcdowell2026@virginia.edu to inquire about co-sponsorship opportunities.
If you would like to make a personal contribution or gift in recognition of this luminary figure, individuals are welcome to donate to the Woodson Institute in honor of Deborah E. McDowell. To contribute, please use the GiveCampus donation link and write "McDowell 2026" in the memo line.
Non-monetary contributions
There are numerous ways to contribute to this event. We invite you to consider the following ways to help honor Deborah McDowell's distinguished career:
- Submit an abstract to present at the conference.
- Serve as a volunteer to help with logistical matters during the conference. To volunteer, email mcdowell2026@virginia.edu
- Share a memory for a "memory book" to be shared with Professor McDowell during the conference. Memories can take the form of a short written note, a photo with accompanying caption, a short pre-recorded video or voice note, or a excerpt from a poem or novel or other text. Please upload your submissions onto the event's media submission box. Email mcdowell2026@virginia.edu with any questions.
- Help to advertise by sharing the event via your personal and professional networks.
Provisional Schedule
Day 1: Thursday, May 21, 2026 | ||
Time: | Topic: | Location: |
| 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Panel 1 | Minor 125 |
| 3:00 pm - 4:30 PM | Keynote Conversation | Minor 125 |
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Opening Reception | Colonnade Club |
| Catered reception | ||
Day 2: Friday, May 22, 2026 | ||
Time: | Topic: | Location: |
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Panels 2-5 | Minor 125 |
| Breakfast and lunch provided | ||
Day 3: Saturday, May 23, 2026 | ||
Time: | Topic: | Location: |
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM | Panels 6-9, Closing reception | Minor 125 |
| 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Closing reception | Minor Hall lobby |
Breakfast, lunch, and catered reception | ||
Day 4: Sunday, May 24, 2026 | ||
Time: | Topic: | Location: |
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM | Brunch | Boar's Head Inn |
| Lunch buffet runs from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm | ||
Organizers and Co-Sponsors
Organizers
The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies
The Department of English
Program Committee
Sandy Alexandre, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (program committee co-chair)
Robert Trent Vinson, University of Virginia (program committee co-chair)
Nicole Burrowes, Rutgers University
Mary Ellen Curtin, American University
Benjamin Fagan, Auburn University
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton, University of Virginia
Tera Hunter, Princeton University
LaTasha, Levy, Howard University
Timothy Lovelace, Duke University
Rosemary, Millar, University of North Carolina, School of the Arts
Bryan Wagner, University of California, Berkeley
Local Arrangements Committee
Mrinalini Chakravorty, University of Virginia
Susan Fraiman, University of Virginia
Sandhya Shukla, University of Virginia
Andrew Stauffer, University of Virginia
Lisa Woolfork, University of Virginia
Sponsors
Platinum:
The Carter G. Woodson Institute
The Mellon Foundation
The Office of the Provost
The Office of the Dean
The Page Barbour Fund
Gold:
The Society of Fellows
Silver:
Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures (IHGC)
History
Art History
Music
Bronze:
Religious Studies
Anthropology
Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality
Sociology
Media Studies