Queer and Trans Studies in Religion in the 2020s: Defining the State of the Field
Melissa Wilcox
Religious Studies
UC Riverside
Participants
Sahin Acikgoz
Religious Studies
UC Riverside
Orit Avishai
Sociology
Fordham University
Kent Brintnall
Religious Studies
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Aaron Brown
English
UC Riverside
Kelsey Cooper
Religious Studies
UC Santa Barbara
Kimberly Diaz
Religious Studies
UC Riverside
Learned Foote
Department of Religion
Rice University
Janet R. Jakobsen
Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
Columbia University
Joseph A. Marchal
Religious Studies
Ball State University
Kori Pacyniak
Religious Studies
UC Riverside
Elizabeth Pérez
Religious Studies
UC Santa Barbara
J Selke
Religious Studies
UC Riverside
Max Strassfeld
Religious Studies and Classics
University of Arizona
Heather R. White
Religion and Queer Studies
University of Puget Sound
Nikki Young
Women's and Gender Studies and Religion
Bucknell University
Farah Zeb
Institute of Ismaili Studies
Adriaan van Klinken
Religion and African Studies
University of Leeds
The takeover of the US Capitol drove home for the collaborators in this working group the critical import of our project—to convene a group of emerging, mid-career, and senior scholars of queer and trans studies in religion in order to develop papers that will become the inaugural volume of a new journal in these closely linked subfields. From the biblical passages cited by some far-right protestors and Nancy Pelosi’s prayer to Saint Francis, to white nationalist claims that homophobia is a Jewish plot, to the complicated imbrications of religion, race, class, citizenship, and nationalism in the same sex marriage movement, recent events demonstrate the centrality of trans and queer studies in religion to the ongoing work of thinkers and activists both within and beyond the academy and speak to the urgency of a journal dedicated to these issues.
Learn more about the project in this Foundry interview with Melissa Wilcox.
