PUBLIC SPEAKING

  • Black Archival Imaginaries: Building Imagination Literacy.

    Invited Speaker. Kinfolk Tech Foundation. Teach-In series. Virtual. August 5, 2026.

    Speculative Archiving.

    Invited Speaker. Curating our Lived Experience Summer Program. University of Ottawa & Canadian Museum of History. In-Person. July 13, 2026.

    Transformation & Black Remembrance.

    Invited Speaker. Golden Mile Employment & Social Services. City of Toronto. Virtual. February 10, 2026.

    Freedom Dreamers.

    Invited Speaker. University of Ottawa Archives & Special Collections. In-Person. October 23, 2025.

    Toward Community-Centered Reference.

    Schlesinger Library, Harvard University. In-Person. November 8, 2024. 

    Description and Access for Anti-Black Archival Materials.

    Invited Speaker. ARMA International. Virtual. March 28, 2024.

    Toward Community-Centered Reference.

    Invited Speaker. Library and Archives Canada. Virtual. March 8, 2024.

  • Documenting & Archiving Black Life, Work & Scholarship.

    Invited Speaker with Dr. Janelle Joseph & Dr. Beatrice Ombuki-Berman. Brock University. In-Person. February 26, 2026.

    Reclaiming Black Memory, Forging Black Possibilities.

    Invited Speaker with Aaron T. Francis, Tura Cousins Wilson & Shane Lapiste. Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. In-Person. November 27, 2025.

    Archives + Creative Possibilties.

    Invited Speaker. Muslims in Canada Archives. In-Person. November 11, 2025.

    Teaching Cafe: Democracy’s Archive, Archiving Democracy.

    Invited Speaker with Myron Groover, Denali YoungWolfe, Krista McCracken, Michele Antoinette Johnson & Roberto Falanga. Participedia. In-Person. November 12, 2025.

    The Transformative Use of Archives.

    Invited Speaker. Modern Fuel Arts Centre. In-Person. August 15, 2023.

    Healing with Archives: A Conversation with Melissa J. Nelson.

    Invited Speaker. Colloquium Series. University of British Columbia School of Information. In-Person. September 19, 2024.

    Rethinking Archival Tools: Catalogs, Finding Aids and Descriptions.

    Invited Speaker. Black Community Archives and Libraries Summer Seminar. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Virtual. June 14, 2024.

  • KEYNOTE: Black Imagination for New Worlds.

    Invited Speaker with Kwame Delfish. Sankofa: Exploring Memory and Imagination. World at War Speaker Series. Canadian War Museum. In-Person. February 19, 2026.

    KEYNOTE: Archives as Sites of Black Joy.

    Invited Speaker. Black Atlantic: Heritage, Knowledge, and Solidarity. Symposium. Nigra Iuventa. In-Person. November 21, 2025.

    Engagement and Teaching with Data. 

    Melissa J. Nelson, Laura Estill, Meghan Landry, Gretchen Rudham, Victoria Moten, and Cortnie Belser. Invited Speaker. Library and Archives Canada Speaker Series. May 9, 2024.

    Digital Archives and Ethics of Care. 

    Melissa J. Nelson, Cait McKinney and Gracen Brilmyer. Invited Speaker. Crossing Fonds. Symposium. OCAD University, Simon Fraser University & Centre for the Study of Black Canadian Diaspora. In-person. April 27, 2024.

    Changing Landscapes, New Directions.

    Melissa J. Nelson, Dr. Rico Chapman, Dr. Kathy Moscou, and Dr. Cheryl Thompson. Invited Speaker. Black Digital Humanities Symposium. Black Digital Humanities Lab at Jackson State University Department of Art and Theatre & the Diversity Working Group at the University of Toronto. Virtual. April 12, 2024

    Activating Archives and Anniversaries.

    Melissa J. Nelson, Lopez Matthews and Sean Smith. Invited Speaker. Mary Ann Shadd Cary in the Here and Now Symposium. Penn State’s Center for Black Digital Research. Penn State University Centre for Black Digital Research. Virtual. October 2, 2021.

  • Black Archives + Archival Research.

    Invited Speaker. University of Toronto Faculty of Information. INF 2180H: Archives: Access, Advocacy and Outreach. Instructor: Jessica Lapp.

    Reparative Description: Confronting Anti-Blackness in Archives.

    Invited Speaker. University of Toronto Faculty of Information. INF2104H Archives and Community. Virtual. November 20, 2024. Instructor: Jessica Lapp.

    Reparative Description: Confronting Anti-Blackness in Archives.

    Invited Speaker. University of Toronto Faculty of Information. INF1331H Archival Arrangement and Description. In-person. March 27, 2024. Instructor: Jennifer Grant.

PUBLICATIONS & INTERVIEWS