For a full list, click here for a complete CV.
2021
Keynote. “Collegiality, Morale, and Mutual Aid: ACRL 2021 Symposium.” Association of College and Research Libraries. 2 – 3 December 2021. Invited Speaker. Zoom.
Keynote. Cataloging Queer Library Issues: A Symposium to Honor Walt ‘Cat’ Walker.” Library at Loyola Marymount University. 12 August 2021. Invited Speaker. Zoom.
Panelist. “Bridging the Gap: In Support of Female Librarianship.” with Emily Drabinski and Nichelle Hayes. 11th National Conference of African American Librarians, Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). 30 July 2021.
“Bridging the Gap: In Support of Female Librarianship.” with Emily Drabinski and Nichelle Hayes. Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL). 4 May 2021. Invited Speaker. Zoom.
Panelist and Host. Molehills of Memory. with Zakiyah Collier and Steven Fullwood. Bard College and NYU Libraries. 14 April 2021. Organizer. Zoom.
Panelist and Host. Black Lesbian Futures. with Cheryl Clarke, Briona Simone Jones, Jewelle Gomez, Susana Morris, Sharon Bridgforth, Lisa C. Moore, Cassandra Grant. Lesbian Herstory Archives, CLAGS, NYU Libraries, Sinister Wisdom Journal. 7 April 2021. Organizer. Zoom.
Panelist. “Black Lesbian Ancestral Archiving.” In What I found in the Archives with Professor Darcy Buerkle. Department of History, Smith College, 9 March 2021. Invited Speaker. Zoom.
Guest Lecturer. “Black Lesbian Ancestral Archiving.” In What I found in the Archives with Professor Darcy Buerkle. Department of History, Smith College, 9 March 2021. Invited Speaker
2020
Panelist, Smith-Cruz, S. with Kristen Duncan and Phil Virta. “A Subtlety, Or Performing a Critical Lens in Library Staffing, Instruction & Engagement for Social Change” in Influencing Meaningful Change for Social Justice Issues. [National Webinar]. Gale, a Cengage company, 12 November 2020. YouTube Recording. Invited Speaker
Panelist, Smith-Cruz, S. with Maria Cristina Santana and Phil Virta. Leveraging your content in teaching and research: Sexuality and Gender/Women’s Studies. [National Webinar]. Gale, a Cengage company & Association of Southern Research Libraries (ASERL), 28 October 2020. Vimeo Recording. Invited Speaker
Guest Lecturer, “Community archives and African American history.” Department of History, George School with Instructor Zahra Patterson. 16 October 2020. Invited Speaker
2020 Howard, S., Birzer, B., Ferrara, A., Johnson, V., Smith, H., Smith-Cruz, S. (2020, November 12 – 15). An Archivist Salon: conceptualizing the archives as a site of activism. [Conference session]. NWSA Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, United States. https://mailchi.mp/nwsa/2020nwsacancel (Conference canceled).
2020 Panelist, Smith-Cruz, S., Avery Le, and Kim Council. Amplify Your Voice. Special Libraries Association, SLA. (Zoom Presentation.) 17 September 2020.
2020 Panelist, Smith-Cruz, S. with Alexis Clements. Screening + Q&A ALL WE’VE GOT Film by Alexis Clements. Municipal Art Society of New York, 24 June 2019.
2020 Fullwood, Steven, Miranda Mims, and Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. Archives as Activism: A Virtual Discussion. Institute of African American Affairs and the Center for Black Visual Culture, New York University. 13 April 2020.
2019
Bakaitis, Elvis, Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, Sheena Philogene, Allison Cabana, and Betsy Yoon. “Breaking Open: Race and Labor in Open Pedagogies at CUNY.” Outside of the Box: Redefining Ethical Innovation in the Academic Library, ACRL-NY Annual Symposium, 6 December 2019.
Guest Lecturer, Voices of the City, Futures Initiative course with Prithi Kanakamedala and Tarry Hum, The Graduate Center, 21 November 2019.
Moderator, Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, Cassandra Grant, Stahimili Mapp, and Imani Rashid. “Salsa Soul Sisters Salon, New York Historical Society, 15 November 2019.
Guest Lecturer, “Managing Social Differences in Courses” with Shelly Eversley and James Cantres, ACERT series, Hunter College, 24 October 2019.
Guest Lecturer, Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz with artist Sue Jeong Ka. “Archiving Relations.”In the Historical Present July 8 – October 2019 series, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, The New School, 25 September 2019.
Moderator, Jose Munoz Award Ceremony, Cheryl Dunye in Conversation with Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz, The Center for LGBTQ Studies, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 23 September 2019.
Howard, Sara, and Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. “Queering Identity: Critique, Self-exploration and Social Justice.” Individual Presentations, IDEAL ’19: Advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives, Ohio State University, 6 August 2019.
Panelist, “Archiving Black Lesbians in Practice at the Lesbian Herstory Archives.” Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, First Saturday’s Exhibition Lecture, Brooklyn Museum. 6 July 2019. Invited Speaker.
Moderator, The Tea on Brooklyn’s Prismatic LGBTQ Nightlife, Brooklyn Historical Society, 24 June 2019. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, “Archiving Black Lesbians in Practice: The Salsa Soul Sisters Archival Collection at the Lesbian Herstory Archives.” Stonewall 50: A Panel Discussion on LGBTQ+ Research, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. 21 June 2019. Invited Speaker.
“Archiving Black Lesbians in Practice…” Art History Happy Hour Exhibition talk: “Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stonewall.” Brooklyn Museum, 13 June 2019. Invited Speaker.
“Archiving Black Lesbians in Practice…” Stonewall 50: Lessons in Unerasing Underrepresented Histories, Philanthropy New York, 4 June 2019. Invited Speaker.
“Archiving Black Lesbians in Practice…” Preserving the voices and memory of the LGBT community in the field. Brooklyn Public Library, 3 June 2019. Invited Speaker.
Guest Lecturer, “Archiving Dissent and Future Planning.” New School University with Instructor Macushla Robinson. 20 April 2019. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, Accessibility for All: Inclusive Design in Libraries and Academia. Pratt Institute Libraries, 10 April 2019. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, Stonewall@50 roundtable. National Council on Public History Conference, Hartford, CT, 28 March 2019.
“‘Every generation confronts the task of choosing its past’: Case Studies in Archiving for Activist Movements.” The Politics and Ethics of the Archive, Scholar and the Feminist Conference, Barnard Center for Research on Women, 9 February 2019. Invited Speaker.
2018
“Intersectionality in LGBTQ narratives.” Intersectionality: How the Definition Has Evolved and How Libraries Can Support the Conversation, Charleston Conference Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, NC. 7 November 2018. Slides.
“Exploring Intersectionality & LGBTQ Issues w/ Primary Sources & eBooks” [National Webinar]. ACRL/Choice Webinars, Gale Cengage, 17 October 2018. Slides. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, Queer Words, Queer Worlds. Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, First Saturday’s Exhibition Lecture, Brooklyn Museum, 02 June 2018. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, Artists’ Archives, The Reading Room at Wendy’s Subway, Bard Graduate Center, New York, 26 April 2018. Invited Speaker.
“Archival Curation at the GC Library: From Display to Collaborative Exhibition.” Beyond Book Displays: Leveraging Special and Archival Collections to Up Your Library’s Marketing Game, ACRL National Library Marketing & Outreach (LMaO) Interest Group, 23 March 2018.
“Black Lesbians in the 70s: How a Zine Marked Herstory.” Sinister Wisdom 107: Black Lesbians — We are the Revolution, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, 27 February 2018. Invited Speaker.
2017
“Archival Curation at the GC Library: From Display to Collaborative Exhibition.” LACUNY Grace-Ellen McCrann Memorial Lectures, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 08 December 2017.
“Use, Copyright, and Permissions in Archival Research in Gender and Sexuality.” Supporting Gender and Sexuality Studies at Academic Libraries [Webinar], ACRL/Choice Webinars, Gale Cengage, 02 October 2017. Slides. Invited Speaker.
2016
Panelist and Reader, “From a Single Archive to Infinite Writing Projects.” Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College, 28 November 2016.
Keynote Speaker, “One Librarian, Many Communities: Access and Practice On Documenting Black Lesbians of New York City.” WITHOUT BORDERS… Archives, Libraries, Museums and Special Collections (ALMS) 2016, London Metropolitan Archives, Bishopsgate Institute/ Queer London Research Forum, University of Westminster, London, UK, 23 June 2016. Invited Speaker.
Gwenwald, Morgan, and Shawnta Smith-Cruz, “Capturing, Preserving, Creating History, 40 years at the Lesbian Herstory Archives w/Morgan Gwenwald.” Gay American History @ 40, New School University, New York, 05 May 2016.
“Black Lesbian Organizing and Activism : 1970s to Now with Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Linda Villarosa, and Cassandra Grant.” Beyond Bold and Brave, National Black Lesbian Conference, Barnard Center for Research on Women, New York, 26 March 2016. Invited Speaker.
“Zines as a Finding Aid to Archival Collections.” The Archives and Zines : Graphic Activism w/ The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Blackburn 20|20 Exhibition, EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, 23 March 2016. Invited Speaker.
Adler, Kate, and Shawnta Smith. “Archives & Archival Objects as Pedagogical Tools for Librarian Engagement.” Critical Libraries & Pedagogies Symposium (CLAPS), University of Arizona, 25 February 2016.
2015
“Responsibility, & Professionalism in Diversity.” Diversity and Democracy in Libraries and Archives, ACRL/NY Annual Symposium, 04 December 2015.
“Information Life-cycle in LGBTQ Studies and STEM.” STEM + LGBTQ + Libraries = A Winning Combination for Students and Research, oSTEM Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 23 November 2015.
Fullwood, Steven, and Shawnta Smith, “Your History is Your Legacy.” Fire & Ink: Witness, Detroit, MI, 10 October 2015.
“Collective Community, Space, and Alternative Ecologies.” We (not I), Artists Space, New York, 03 October 2015. Invited Speaker.
“Archiving our Legacy (Post Marriage) in of-color Communities.” Loving Quilt & LGBT Marriage: Post Marriage Rights, LGBT Community Center, 30 September 2015. Invited Speaker.
Panelist & Breakout Session Leader, “Collective Community, Space, and Alternative Ecologies.” Race, Space, Geographies, and Power, Hand-in-Glove 2015 Conference, Common Field Convening, Minneapolis, 17 September 2015. Invited Speaker.
Respondent, Misadventures in Black Dyke Dating in the 90s, Dirty Looks NYC: On Location Film Series, 06 July 2015. Invited Speaker
“Lesbian Librarianship : From Reference to Archives.” Gender, Race, & Sexuality in Library Information Science, SILSSA, Pratt Institute, 27 March 2015. Panel Audio. Invited Speaker
Moderator & Panelist, “From #BlackLivesMatter to Art – How Do we Contribute?” ART/ACTIVISM, Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College, 19 March 2015. Invited Speaker
“Lorraine Hansberry and Audre Lorde.” Black LGBT Pioneers : A Celebration and Discussion, Queens College, 05 February 2015. Invited Speaker.
2014
“The Dunye Dilemma: Black Lesbian Invisibility Myth.” Feminism & the Archive, Friday Forums, Department of English, Graduate Center, 12 September 2014. Invited Speaker.
“Institutional Archives and Implications of Access.” Informed Agitation : Community Access as Community Activism, Metropolitan Library Council (METRO), 12 June 2014. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, First Fridays, Brooklyn Museum, 07 June 2014. Invited Speaker.
Convener, Moderator, & Panelist, “Queer Housing Nacional, and Community in Librarianship.” Informed Agitators : Librarian & Information Professionals & Social Justice, The Left Forum, New York, 01 June 2014.
“Harriet Jacobs and Lorraine Hansberry : Power and Interracial Desire.” The History of Interracial Desire: Love, Crisis, and Representation, The Left Forum, New York, 31 May 2014.
Panel Moderator, “Lorraine Hansberry and the Issue of Outing.” Outing Lorraine with Joi Gresham, Director of the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust, Alexis de Veaux, writer, and Steven G. Fullwood, curator, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, 22 May 2014. Invited Speaker.
“Teaching & Assessing Information Literacy for Graduate Students.” From Stale to Stellar: Practical Innovations for Teaching Information Lit, @ LILAC – Library Information Literacy Advisory Committee Spring Training, 25 April 2014. Slides.
Panelist, Lesbian Archives Roundtable, Radical Archives Conference at the 2013-2014 A/P/A Institute at NYU, 12 April 2014.
Reader, Informed Agitation, Bluestockings Bookstore, New York, 08 April 2014.
Reader, Informed Agitation Book Release Party, Brooklyn Commons, 05 April 2014.
2013
Respondent on Lorraine Hansberry and the Lesbian Herstory Archives, Interview with BK Live, Brooklyn Independent Media Television, 20 November 2013.
“Collecting Oral Histories and Providing Archival Access.” The Finding Aid : Black Women at the Intersection of Art and Archiving, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, 21 May 2013. Invited Speaker.
“LGBT Digital and Differently Formatted Collections as Primary Source Materials.” Lesbian activism 1970 to present with the Lesbian Herstory Archives, IvyQ 2013: Fourth Annual Ivy League LGBTQ Conference, Yale University, New Haven, 7-10 February 2013.
2012
Panelist, Digital Tools : Opportunities for Research and Access, CUNY IT Conference, John Jay College, 30 November 2012.
“Black Lesbians in the 70’s and Before: An At Home Tour to the Lesbian Herstory Archives.” The Lesbian Herstory Archives with Deb Edel, Flavia Rando, Teddy Minucci, Paula Grant, and Maxine Wolfe. SAGE Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders, 28 September 2012.
Guest Lecturer, Rainbow Center Out To Lunch Series, University of Connecticut, 30 March 2011. Invited Speaker.
2010
Information as Goddess : How Web 2.0, and Collective Organizational Structures Transform Information Access and the Creation of Information, Women Thinkers Panel, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, 25 October 2010. Invited Speaker.
Guest Lecturer, Course: Queering the Media with Instructor Ronak K. Kapadia, Eugene Lang College, New School University, 14 October 2010. Invited Speaker.
Panelist, 20th Anniversary Archive : The Importance of Archiving to Preserve Our LGBT History with David Carter, George Chauncey, Rich Wandel, Maxine Wolfe, Center Archives, The LGBT Community Center, New York, 07 October 2010.
Guest Lecturer, “Why ‘Lesbian of Color Only’ Spaces? : An Historical Overview of Separatism from a Lesbian of Color Perspective” Out To Lunch Lecture Series, Rainbow Center, University of Connecticut, September 2010. Invited Speaker.
“The Bridge Between Decades & Importance for Queer Women of Color to Gather.” Town Hall Meeting, African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change (AALUSC), May 2010. Invited Speaker.
2009
“To Be Constantly Writing: A Survey of our Resources.” Fire & Ink III : 2009 Cotillion, 08 October 2009, Austin, Texas.
“Beth Levine’s Letter to the Archives & ‘the Ask’.” 35th Year Anniversary of the Lesbian Herstory Archives, Lesbian and Gay Community Center, February 2009.
2008
“Authors’ Intention as Narrative: Archiving Lesbian Identities.” Archiving and the Politics of Identity, International GLBT ALMS (Archivists, Librarians, Museum Curators, and Special Libraries) Conference, The Graduate Center, 08 May 2008.
2001
Keynote Speaker, “Youth Leadership and Power Displacement within our Organizations.” Youth Issues in the New Millennium, Northwest Network for Youth Annual Regional Training, September 2001. Invited Speaker.
Morning Plenary Panelist & Facilitator, Conversations between Activists Across Generations, Barnard Center for Research on Women, Barnard College, 24 February 2001. Invited Speaker.
Keynote Speaker, “Youth Leadership and Power…” National Network for Youth National Symposium, February 2001. Invited Speaker.
2000
Keynote Speaker, “Youth Leadership and Power…” National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) Annual Youth Summit, October 2000. Invited Speaker.
Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz 