Dr. Julius Fleming, Jr., delivered a call-to-action speech asking undergraduate researchers to use their imagination as a guiding force in times of challenge. His keynote address anchored the sixth annual Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium, held from March 20 to March 22, 2025, on the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University.   

Dr. Fleming, whose book Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation framed the core of his keynote, emphasized the transformative power of the humanities in shaping a just future.   

The symposium brought together more than 160 undergraduate scholars from colleges and universities nationwide to showcase their research spanning every discipline of the humanities. Attendees were welcomed at a reception held at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), setting the tone for three days of intellectual exchange and celebration of undergraduate scholarship.   

In her opening remarks, Dr. Jennifer Wester, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity (URSCA) at Johns Hopkins University, underscored the significance of hosting the event in historic Gilman Hall, and of conducting the proceedings in honor of Richard Macksey, who played an outsized role in the flourishing of the humanities at Hopkins. “Your presence here is a tribute to [Richard Macksey’s] legacy,” she told the student presenters gathered in the Gilman auditorium. “Collectively, you represent the enduring vibrancy of humanistic study, the fruitfulness of cross-disciplinary exchange, the promise of ever more discovery through unfettered exploration.”  

Following two full days of student presentations, the symposium concluded with remarks from Dr. Leroy Myers, Jr., Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Research Administration and Student Mentorship with URSCA, who emphasized the continuing importance of the humanities in the age of artificial intelligence. He encouraged students to embrace research not just as a task, but as an identity: “Keep going. Keep asking bold questions. Keep refining your ideas. Keep sharing your research. What you have done here is not an endpoint but a beginning.”   

Reflecting on their experience at the 2025 Macksey Symposium, student presenters shared words of inspiration, gratitude, and personal growth:   

“The conference reaffirmed my passion for the humanities and my belief that humanistic studies are SO important—especially now!”   

“Dr. Fleming was phenomenal. I really appreciated his engagement with the audience—and it was such a gift to speak with him during the Saturday morning book signing.” 

“The experience broadened my horizons beyond the West Coast. It opened up a much larger networking system and definitely matured me as a person—it was my first solo trip and first-ever conference presentation.”  

The Macksey Symposium remains a unique national platform for undergraduates to present their research. It offers students an opportunity to learn about the world of research and imagine the future through a humanities lens.