Being able to attend a professional conference has been one of the highlights of my experience as a MARA student. Thanks to the SJSU iSchool Student Travel Grant, I had the opportunity to attend the Queer History South 2026 conference in February. It was a powerful experience to learn more about LGBTQ+ community and institutional archives throughout North America. 

There were many connections to topics that my MARA faculty and classmates introduced through discussion posts and project assignments. The conference was just after my first full semester as a MARA student, and I encourage others to consider going to conferences early in their educational journeys.

I’m excited to share that my full review of the conference, ”My Experience as a MARA Student at Queer History South 2026,” has just been published in the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of Archeota, a platform for SJSU iSchool students to contribute to the archival conversation (written by students, for students).

Check out page 5 to read about my takeaways, some of the communities represented at the conference, and why community archives matter now more than ever. Read the full issue on SJSU ScholarWorks!