The conference theme for the 2nd International Trans Studies Conference is State of the Post-Discipline. The purpose of this theme is to reflect on the past, appraise the present, and map out visions for the future of our young field.  

In the decade since the first publication of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, the field of trans studies has grown at lightning speed. As it has done so, increasing numbers of scholars from an ever-expanding number of theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary traditions have taken up the mantle of “trans studies.” Yet, scholars working in the varied communities of inquiry that make up the global patchwork of trans studies have not entered into robust conversation with one another, instead archipelagating across the academy. While our numbers have never been greater, our scholarly dialogue has never been more fractured, leading some in trans studies to call for a turn to a postdisciplinary model of organization for our field. 

This growth in the field of trans studies has come at the same time as trans and gender-minority people have become hypervisible across the globe. Movements for recognition and rights for trans and gender-minority people have made significant gains, while a global movement seeking to curtail freedoms for trans people and, in extreme cases, even outlaw transness has gained momentum. The already precarious lives trans and gender-minority people live feel increasingly under threat, while the promise of a brighter future sits off on the horizon. 

As such, the field of trans studies finds itself at a critical juncture. Trans studies has never been more necessary, even as it struggles to define its place in the academy and in the wider world. The conference theme thus asks, where do we go from here? How do we weave together the various threads of trans scholarship happening across the academy into one postdisciplinary field of “trans studies” that makes a difference in the world?

The 2nd International Trans Studies Conference welcomes submissions that engage with these and other important questions about the state of trans studies, grappling with the field’s history, assessing its current state, and looking forward to a postdisciplinary future for the field. Topics for submission may include:

• How can trans studies bridge the gaps between diverse academic communities and engage with the broader world?

• How have the terminology, concepts, and movements that have shaped trans studies evolved, and with what consequences?

• What are the challenges and opportunities of inter-/trans-/post-disciplinary engagement within trans studies as scholars from various disciplines collaborate and contribute to the development of a more pluralistic field?

• How do the intersections of trans identities with other aspects of identity, such as race, class, disability, and nationality shape the field of trans studies, or how ought it?

• How might trans studies overcome its Euro-American provincialism and how might perspectives on trans studies from the Majority World reconfigure the field?

• How can academic research learn from, contribute to, and create new efforts for social change and justice for trans and gender-minority communities?

• How might the field of trans studies combine theoretical and methodological tools of different disciplinary origins to more meaningfully address the unique realities of trans life?

• What is the role of trans studies within the university and how do we advance trans studies as central to the pedagogical and research missions of academic institutions?

For themed submissions, we will consider proposals for both (1) individual (sole- or multi-authored) academic papers and (2) coordinated panel sessions consisting of multiple academic papers by different authors. Proposals for individual academic papers must follow the submission guidelines provided below. Proposals for coordinated panel sessions must include a 250-word rationale explaining the panel topic and how it fits the conference theme, as well as 250-word abstracts of each contributor’s paper—to be submitted as one submission. All panel submissions should include contributions from at least two different countries, from multiple disciplines, and from authors of diverse personal backgrounds.