What’s New at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies?
The Center for Applied Transgender Studies (CATS) launched on March 31, 2021—International Transgender Day of Visibility. Thanks to supporters like you, our launch was an incredible success, and news outlets like the Chicago Tribune and the Windy City Times even ran stories covering our launch. We’re excited to be starting our work and look forward to keeping you updated on what’s going on at CATS!
Now for some headline news:
Senior Fellow Ruth Pearce has accepted a new position as Lecturer in Community Development in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow.
Senior Fellow Ben Vincent has accepted a new position as Research Coordinator for the Trans Learning Partnership.
Junior Fellow Blu Buchanan has accepted a new position as Post-doctoral University Fellow in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Senior Fellow Beck Strauss received the Special Thanks And Recognition (STAR) award for “efforts to create a more inclusive work environment for transgender people in planetary science” from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Senior Fellows Ben Vincent and Kat Gupta have been named finalists for a Lambda Literary Award for their volume Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020), which they co-edited with Jos Twist and Meg-John Barker.
CATS in the Media
Executive Director TJ Billard was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article, “New Transgender Studies Center in Chicago Aims to Combat Misinformation and Lack of Trans-led Research,” on April 26 and in a Windy City Times article, “New Center for Applied Transgender Studies Responds to Trans Misinformation,” on April 28. Billard also appeared on the radio show “Joan Esposito: Live, Local & Progressive” on WCPT 820 on April 27 to discuss the launch of CATS.
Executive Director TJ Billard, Managing Director Erique Zhang, and Director of Finance Avery Everhart were all quoted in a Daily Northwestern article, “Northwestern Scholars Co-Found Center for Applied Transgender Studies with Institutions Worldwide,” on May 20.
Senior Fellow Chris Barcelos was quoted in a Bitch article, “Tender Judging Care: #TransCrowdFund and the Politics of Desire,” on February 24 and in a Verge article, “Imperfect Offerings: Inside the Complex New World of Trans Tech,” on May 19.
Junior Fellow Reubs Walsh was profiled in a Mind Over Matter article, “Busting Barriers: Unique Research for the Transgender Community,” in May.
Upcoming Events
New Publications
Senior Fellow Ruth Pearce recently co-edited as special issue of the International Journal of Transgender Health on “Trans Pregnancy: Fertility, Reproduction and Body Autonomy” with Sally Hines, Carla A. Pfeffer, Damien W. Riggs, and Francis Ray White.
Senior Fellow Asa Radix recently co-edited a special collection of PLOS One on “Health & Health Care in Gender Diverse Communities” with Jae Sevelius and Ayden Scheim.
Executive Director TJ Billard published “Movement–Media Relations in the Hybrid Media System: A Case Study from the U.S. Transgender Rights Movement” in the International Journal of Press Politics in April.
Senior Fellow Chris Barcelos recently published Distributing Condoms and Hope: The Racialized Politics of Youth Sexual Health (University of California Press, 2020).
Senior Fellow T.J. Jourian recently published “Transfeminist Methodology: Examining Cissexism in Higher Education and Student Affairs Research” in The Wiley Handbook of Gender Equity in Higher Education, edited by Nancy S. Niemi and Marcus B. Weaver-Hightower (Wiley-Blackwell, 2021).
Senior Fellow Ben Vincent published “What All Doctors Should Know About Trans Health: A Conversation Between a Medic and a Sociologist” with Sophie Quinney in the British Student Doctor Journal in April.
Junior Fellow Florence Ashley published “Recommendations for Institutional and Governmental Management of Gender Information” in N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change in February. Ashley also recently published “Corriger nos pratiques: Les approches thérapeutiques pour intervenir auprès des enfants trans examinées dans une perspective juridique” in Jeunes trans et non binaires: De l’accompagnement à l’affirmation (Éditions Remue-Ménage, 2021).
Executive Director TJ Billard; Managing Director Erique Zhang; Senior Fellows V Varun Chaudhry, Kale Fajardo, Oliver Haimson, Austin H. Johnson, Arjee Restar, and Ben Vincent; and Junior Fellow Florence Ashley all contributed entries to the recently-published SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, edited by Abbie E. Goldberg and Genny Beemyn (SAGE, 2021).