In collaboration with several campus units, the Office of the Vice President for Diversity is hosting a special session on “Un/Seen: How gender influences college going, and the possibilities of transgender world-making” with Z Nicolazzo on Feb. 6.
Dr. Z Nicolazzo, assistant professor of Trans* Studies in Education at the University of Arizona’s Center for the Study of Higher Education, is coming to Colorado State University as part of a collaborative visit to host workshops and listening opportunities with several departments across campus.
Nicolazzo is giving a presentation in the Lory Student Center North Ballroom on Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. The talk is free and open to the public, but registration is required at bit.ly/36IU7Os.
Nicolazzo will share her current research on transgender college students to explore how gender creates tension points for students, faculty and staff on college campuses. She also will discuss what possibilities exist for reimagining gendered futures, including how trans people have already been using the internet to do this sort of world-making and visioning.
Event information
Date: Thursday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m.
Location: Lory Student Center North Ballroom
Registration: The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at bit.ly/36IU7Os.
Sponsors: School of Education, Pride Resource Center, Vice President for Diversity, University Housing, Vice President for Student Affairs, the Health Network, and the Office of the Provost
“We are excited to be hosting Dr. Z Nicolazzo on campus, bridging efforts with a variety of campus partners and colleagues,” said Dora Frias, director of the PRIDE Resource Center. “As one of the leading scholars on the experiences of Transgender College students, Z’s work is critical as we continue to move forward efforts at CSU to shift systems that create a thriving community for our transgender students and colleagues.”
Frias added that they have received several data points (Campus Climate Survey, National College Health Assessment) that indicate they must address the oppressive experiences of the transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming CSU community. “We hope our campus colleagues will join us during the open session as we work to learn more and do better,” Frias said.
Nicolazzo’s work has focused on mapping gender across college contexts. As a doctoral candidate at Miami University, she concentrated her dissertation studies on the strategies used by nine trans-identified college students as they navigated their collegiate environments. Nicolazzo’s dissertation was published as a book by Stylus Publishing and is titled Trans* in College: Transgender Students’ Strategies for Navigating Campus Life and the Institutional Politics of Inclusion.
In addition to researching the experiences of trans students on campus, Nicolazzo also explores the intersections of race, gender, and disability as well as interrogating how postsecondary educators conceptualize and deploy understandings of gender throughout their professional practices. She has been published in a variety of academic journals, including the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education and the Journal of LGBT Youth. Nicolazzo also serves on several journal editorial boards and is a member of the International Advisory Board for the book series, Queer Studies in Education.
Nicolazzo will be engaging with a variety of campus constituents during her two-day stay on campus. She will be consulting with University Housing, the Health Network, the Pride Resource Center Safe Zone Facilitators, and working with Deans and Academic Leaders.
