Photo credit: Emily Ramsey-North
As a first-generation, low income, immigrant of color, who was an international student, T.J. didn't always see himself as a scholar or researcher - those words were seldom used to describe people that looked or sounded like him.
Scholarship has become a powerful vehicle and mode
But I've found a certain power in it, in the doing of it and in the being in it as a voice writing and thinking from the margins. I have a particular obsession in utilizing intersectional scholarship to trans*form postsecondary education and experiences. Conceptualized with friends and fellow #TransIsBrilliant people, S Simmons and Kara Devaney, trans*formational pedagogy foregrounds trans people in achieving the democratic and emancipatory potentials of higher education.
My research interests involve trans and queer student, staff, and faculty campus experiences, activism, and leadership, particularly those of queer and trans people of color. My dissertation entitled "My masculinity is a little love poem to myself": Trans*masculine college students' conceptualizations of masculinity revealed the racialized, embodied, and authentic pathways undertaken by trans*masculine college students. I think I am still the only PhD student I know that, despite hardships and struggles, absolutely adored doing my dissertation. It pushed and challenged me, and nurtured and saved me in unexpected ways. I hope it does the same for you!
You can also check out my Academia.edu page.
Scholarship has become a powerful vehicle and mode
But I've found a certain power in it, in the doing of it and in the being in it as a voice writing and thinking from the margins. I have a particular obsession in utilizing intersectional scholarship to trans*form postsecondary education and experiences. Conceptualized with friends and fellow #TransIsBrilliant people, S Simmons and Kara Devaney, trans*formational pedagogy foregrounds trans people in achieving the democratic and emancipatory potentials of higher education.
My research interests involve trans and queer student, staff, and faculty campus experiences, activism, and leadership, particularly those of queer and trans people of color. My dissertation entitled "My masculinity is a little love poem to myself": Trans*masculine college students' conceptualizations of masculinity revealed the racialized, embodied, and authentic pathways undertaken by trans*masculine college students. I think I am still the only PhD student I know that, despite hardships and struggles, absolutely adored doing my dissertation. It pushed and challenged me, and nurtured and saved me in unexpected ways. I hope it does the same for you!
You can also check out my Academia.edu page.
One of those super-proud achievements was co-creating and formerly managing and editing the Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs (JCSHESA). As currently the only open-access, open-review journal focused on utilizing critical frameworks in higher education JCSHESA seeks to decenter academia as the producer, consumer, and owner of knowledge through community outreach, developmental review processes, and professional development opportunities to engage those usually disenfranchised from scholarly work. Dian Squire, the journal's co-creator and first editor-in-chief, and I wrote about our aims with starting this journal with the article "Going against the grain: Battling market-based individualism in higher education by establishing an open-access collectivist journal" in the journal's first issue [LINK]
TEACHING
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education" - Albert Einstein
"Education is a kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel" - Socrates
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The quotes above reflect the critical pedagogy that informs my philosophy as an educator. I aim to always instill curiosity and a love of learning in students. I am influenced by the teachings of bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and many others. You can download a PDF copy of my educator philosophy statement on the right.
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Photo credit: Ajani Byrd
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I've had the opportunity to teach at Michigan State, the University of Vermont, Loyola University of Chicago, Merrimack College, and most recently at Oakland University. I've taught leadership and social justice courses to undergraduate students, including those preparing to apply for Resident Assistant positions, whereas the majority of my teaching has put me in classrooms with graduate students. I've taught student development; introduction courses to student affairs, academic affairs, and U.S. higher education; qualitative research methodology; multiculturalism and social justice; and college advising.
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PUBLICATIONS
I'm a huge geek, so it's not surprising that I am also proud of my research and writing. Here are some of them!
From my dissertation on trans masculine college students and their conceptualizations of masculinity
Trans*forming men and masculinity studies in higher education: A critical review. [2018]
Sexua-romanticised pathways of transmasculine college students in the USA. [2018]
Trans*forming college masculinities: Carving out trans*masculine pathways through the threshold of dominance. [2017]
“Fun and carefree like my polka dot bowtie”: Disidentifications of trans*masculine students of color. [2017] In the book Queer People of Color in Higher Education by Joshua Moon Johnson & Gabriel C. Javier
Gender and sexuality models and language
Evolving nature of sexual orientation and gender identity. [2015]
Queering constructs: Proposing a dynamic gender and sexuality model. [2015]
On queer and trans campus centers and student leadership
LGBTQ centers: A queer gender-aware approach to gender justice. [2018] with D. Chase J. Catalano.
Trans* leadership. [2017] with S Simmons.
Trans*forming authentic leadership: A conceptual framework. [2014]
On being minoritized educators and scholars in higher education and student affairs
“We are not expected”: Trans* educators (re)claiming space and voice in higher education and student affairs. [2015] with S Simmons and Kara Devaney [Received the 2016 AERA Queer SIG Article of the Year Award]
A critical race feminist analysis of men of color matriculating into a higher education doctoral program. [2018] with Dian D. Squire, Bridget Turner Kelly, Ajani M. Byrd, Lester J. Manzano, and Michael Bumbry.
Some thoughts on how to do research, especially with trans communities
Starting with "Community/ies"?: Intentional Beginnings and Reflexion for Trans*formative Praxis. [2019] with S Simmons. In the book Starting with Gender: Concept and Methodology in International Higher Education Research by Emily Henderson and Z Nicolazzo.
Trans*ing constructs: Towards a critical trans* methodology. [2017]
Bringing our communities to the research table: The liberatory potential of collaborative methodological practices. [2017] with Z Nicolazzo.
From my dissertation on trans masculine college students and their conceptualizations of masculinity
Trans*forming men and masculinity studies in higher education: A critical review. [2018]
Sexua-romanticised pathways of transmasculine college students in the USA. [2018]
Trans*forming college masculinities: Carving out trans*masculine pathways through the threshold of dominance. [2017]
“Fun and carefree like my polka dot bowtie”: Disidentifications of trans*masculine students of color. [2017] In the book Queer People of Color in Higher Education by Joshua Moon Johnson & Gabriel C. Javier
Gender and sexuality models and language
Evolving nature of sexual orientation and gender identity. [2015]
Queering constructs: Proposing a dynamic gender and sexuality model. [2015]
On queer and trans campus centers and student leadership
LGBTQ centers: A queer gender-aware approach to gender justice. [2018] with D. Chase J. Catalano.
Trans* leadership. [2017] with S Simmons.
Trans*forming authentic leadership: A conceptual framework. [2014]
On being minoritized educators and scholars in higher education and student affairs
“We are not expected”: Trans* educators (re)claiming space and voice in higher education and student affairs. [2015] with S Simmons and Kara Devaney [Received the 2016 AERA Queer SIG Article of the Year Award]
A critical race feminist analysis of men of color matriculating into a higher education doctoral program. [2018] with Dian D. Squire, Bridget Turner Kelly, Ajani M. Byrd, Lester J. Manzano, and Michael Bumbry.
Some thoughts on how to do research, especially with trans communities
Starting with "Community/ies"?: Intentional Beginnings and Reflexion for Trans*formative Praxis. [2019] with S Simmons. In the book Starting with Gender: Concept and Methodology in International Higher Education Research by Emily Henderson and Z Nicolazzo.
Trans*ing constructs: Towards a critical trans* methodology. [2017]
Bringing our communities to the research table: The liberatory potential of collaborative methodological practices. [2017] with Z Nicolazzo.
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
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I enjoy sharing this writing and research, both in formal conferences and association meetings, as well as on more publicly accessible platforms like social media and webinars. I especially enjoy presenting with my fellow trans kin and critical gender, sexuality, and race scholars.
