Wayne State University's School of Information Sciences invites students, alumni, staff, faculty, and community members to join us for the third annual Beyond Barriers: Equity in Information Conference. This year’s theme, “Centering Social Justice in L/IS,” will highlight graduate student presentations, keynote speakers, and a panel discussion that centers equity, inclusion, and justice as foundational—not peripheral—elements of library and information practice. Libraries, archives, and information institutions play a critical role in shaping access, representation, and community power.

Meet our keynote speakers!

Travis Wagner - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Travis L. Wagner is an assistant professor at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Wagner's research interests include critical information studies, queer archives, and LGBTQIA+ advocacy in sociotechnical systems. Their work investigates how LGBTQIA+ communities create identity in opposition to sociotechnical systems that characterize and limit those identities. Multiple projects within the classroom and with community organizations have led to Wagner exploring and publishing the unique relationships between obsolete archival mediums and queer counter-historical work across archival contexts. Their recent publications include articles in the Journal of Information Science, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association and Artifact & Apparatus. Wagner earned their PhD in information science from the University of South Carolina (USC) and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Archival Futures (CAFe) and the Recovery and Reuse of Archival Data Lab (RRAD) within UMD's College of Information. They are the co-creator of the Queer Cola Oral History and Digital Archive.

Mara Powell – University of Detroit Mercy

Mara Powell is University Archivist at University of Detroit Mercy, where she oversees the preservation, organization and accessibility of the University’s historical records. In addition, Powell manages UDM's Black Abolitionist Archive, a historical research center devoted to the study of African Americans involved in the transatlantic struggle against slavery. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Film Studies from Wayne State University. Before joining Detroit Mercy, Powell held archival and digital asset management roles at institutions including Allied Vaughn, Carhartt, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and the Detroit People’s Platform. Her work has included metadata development, digital preservation and the implementation of archival systems that enhance long-term access to collections. Powell has a strong interest in storytelling and media and brings a creative lens to her archival practice.