Scholars in residence

How to apply

The Chair in Transgender Studies welcomes scholars from around the world to apply for the Scholars in Residence program. Applications are welcome at any time throughout the year from faculty, community-based researchers, and graduate students.

WHAT WE OFFER

During your stay you will have one-to-one time with the Chair in Transgender Studies and other scholars who are working on trans-related research projects in the region. We will provide you with office space, on-campus Wi-Fi, UVic email account, UVic ID, access to student computing facilities and VPN services, library privileges, access to the world’s largest Transgender Archives, some administrative support, and access to on-campus state-of-the-art recreational facilities at an additional cost.  You’ll also have an opportunity to enjoy all the many activities offered by the Chair in Transgender Studies throughout your stay. 

UVic and the Chair in Transgender Studies will not provide any financial assistance during your stay. You are financially responsible for all your costs related to travel, accommodations, and food. Additionally, you are responsible for maintaining your own extended health insurance coverage during your stay. All scholars are bound by UVic’s ethics and intellectual property policies.

FIRST STEP

Faculty
Send your applications package to transchair@uvic.ca.  Please include:
  1. CV;
  2. 300-500-word description of the research you want to conduct while you are here;
  3. contact information for two references;
  4. website URL;
  5. confirmation that you will be able to pay your expenses while you are here;
  6. optional 250-word personal statement;
  7. if English is not your first language, please include IELTS or TOEFL scores or other indications of your ability to function in English in an academic environment.

Community-based researchers
Send your applications package to transchair@uvic.ca.  Please include:
  1. CV or resume;
  2. 300-500-word description of the research you want to conduct while you are here;
  3. contact information for two references;
  4. letter from a leader of a community organization attesting to the value of the project;
  5. website URL (if applicable);
  6. confirmation that you will be able to pay your expenses while you are here;
  7. optional 250-word personal statement;
  8. if English is not your first language, please include IELTS or TOEFL scores or other indications of your ability to function in English in an academic environment.

Graduate students
Send your applications package to transchair@uvic.ca.  Please include:
  1. CV;
  2. unofficial university/college transcripts;
  3. 300-500-word description of the research you want to conduct while you are here;
  4. letter from your supervisor supporting your application;
  5. website URL (if applicable);
  6. confirmation that you will be able to pay your expenses while you are here;
  7. optional 250-word personal statement;
  8. if English is not your first language, please include IELTS or TOEFL scores or other indications of your ability to function in English in an academic environment.

NEXT STEPS

We will review your submission and will get back to you as soon as possible. If the Chair in Transgender Studies approves your residency and agrees to supervise you, the next steps are dependent on your visiting scholar status and length of stay. UVic will assist you in processing the necessary paperwork.  Please visit “UVic’s Studying & Working in Canada” website for further information.

Kai McKenzie
(2022 - 2023)

Kai McKenzie is a PhD Candidate in English at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. They are comparing the way the gender-diverse authors of three coming-of-age novels work within their Canadian subcultures, while also breaking out of those cultural streams and creating new cultural forms and possibilities. Forms of resilience in Joshua Whitehead’s Jonny Appleseed, Kai Cheng Thom’s Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars and Vivek Shraya’s She of the Mountains emerge out of hunger and desire and through expansive gestures of multiplicity that counter oppressive and limiting frames.

Coming to study with the Chair in Transgender Studies was like a dream come true! I loved the lunchtime gatherings with fellow scholars, the Nachos nights, the whole Victoria pride season and parade. Most importantly, Dr. Aaron Devor gave me generously of his time to discuss the Two-Spirit and transgender implications of my work and helped me to puzzle through a number of research challenges. Being able to be a part of the Moving Trans History Forward Conference as a volunteer was also a highlight.

K Phoenix
(2018 - 2022)

I am a sociologist from Chiba University in Japan. Since the 1990's, I have interviewed trans people in Japan, and I am continuing my research in Victoria. I have three identities in my study――feminist, fieldworker, and ethnomethodologist. I analyze the interviews from these three perspectives.

The Chair in Transgender Studies and the Transgender Archive is the best place for my studies. Both the oral and paper materials in the archives are very helpful for my analysis. As a scholar in residence, I have the opportunity to talk with many scholars who research trans issues from all over the world.

Esther C. Suwannanon 
(October 2018 - April 2019)

Esther C. Suwannanon is a M.A. student in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Thammasat University, Thailand. She is researching Gender Identity Terms in Thailand through the analysis of her personal archives and she is now living in Canada as a visiting research student at University of Victoria. She was rewarded a Canada-Asian Scholarship by the Education Exchanges for Development (Seed Scholarship). Esther’s interest in Kathoey and Transgender issues crosses a variety of disciplinary fields: History, Art&Media, Political Science, Anthropology and Ethnography.

As a Kathoey having an academic background in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, it's both exciting and an honour to move to Canada and to be a scholar resident at UVic being able to study at the largest Transgender Archives in the world. In Canada I live in a friendly and supportive environment. I can access original archival materials directly related to my research, and I can engage with the trans community and gender variant people in Victoria through the Chair's events, such as Nachos Night and talks with excellent scholars. Residing here truly fulfilled my passion and intellectual life.

Wei Dan
(March 2018 - March 2019)

Wei Dan is one of the Chinese Scholarship funded teachers in the Department of Sociology at Nanchang University. She is interested in gender inequality and transgender. During her stay at the University of Victoria and the Transgender Archives, she is studying transgender history, transgender theory. Based on transgender social media, she is doing research on transgender quality life in China.

It is so lucky and honored that I can spend a whole year at the world’s only Chair in Transgender Studies. The Archives are full of precious collections and wonderful academic achievements from all over the world. The exciting thing of my staying is not only I can sense the transgender history, but also I am so informed about this field. All the activities, the Moving Trans History Forward conference, the continuing speeches by scholar from all around the world, the Nachos nights, and the Victoria Pride parade are all so terrific experience for me. I wish I could spend another year here. I am very appreciated for all the amazing guys I met here.

Sandy Artuso (March - April 2018)

Sandy Artuso is a FNR-funded PhD candidate in the Department of German Studies at the University of Luxembourg. She is writing her thesis about German autobiographies written by trans people.  Sandy is currently writing her PhD thesis about German autobiographies written between 1980 and 2016. During her stay at the University of Victoria, Sandy analyzed the scope of the "international" influence on the production of autobiographies in German-speaking countries. 

"It was a very, very, very, very good experience.  From a professional and academic point of view it was very fulfilling...I got to know so many interesting people, and on a personal level I got to know so many acitivists.  It was really nice to be here."