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Chair in Transgender Studies
Territory acknowledgement
We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.
Our work: fostering research & scholarship in Trans Studies
- Encouraging both existing and new scholars to pursue careers in Transgender Studies and building local, national, and international linkages with others working in Transgender Studies
- Hosting visiting academic and community scholars
- Proactive community outreach and knowledge mobilization
- Teaching and mentoring related to the area of Transgender Studies
- Fundraising in support of the Chair in Transgender Studies and the Transgender Archives
Research
Academic and community-based scholars visit with us throughout the year. Many of them have come to make use of the Transgender Archives.
Moving Trans History Forward
Community activists, researchers, educators, artists, service providers, and allies come together to create a better future.
Public events
The Chair in Transgender Studies holds a variety of public events, including guest speakers, social and arts events, and honorary degrees!
Video message
A donation by the Tawani Foundation, founded and led by Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer N. Pritzker, US Army (Retired), supports the inaugural chair in UVic’s Faculty of Social Sciences for five years.
Latest YouTube Videos
Avery Dame-Griff: Our "tired old flame queens”
DONATE 🇨🇦 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair 🇺🇸 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donation-forms/united-states Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php Moving Trans History Forward: https://www.uvic.ca/mthf AVERY DAME-GRIFF Our “tired old flame queens:” Studying and Archiving Trans Histories of the Digital Age Tuesday, June 9, 2026 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM PDT Like all social movements, internal debate has been a hallmark of formal transgender organizing since its beginning. Who “belongs” within communities? What should we call ourselves? What are the most effective political tactics for reaching the public and policy makers? With the rise of the internet, though, discussions previously confined to letter columns and in-person committee meetings moved online. There, posts meant for like-minded audiences not only spread far beyond their immediate context but also have a much longer and more visible afterlife with the rise of search engines. Arguments made in the heat of the moment—especially when made with an old name or company email attached—can come back to haunt posters long after. In this talk, I'll explore how historians and archivists can adapt to these changes through the case study of an early 2000s multi-year flame war between two transgender activists and well-known posters on Usenet, an early decentralized network online. What began in the transgender-specific corners of Usenet soon sprawled far beyond to involve mentalists, magicians, and eventually the American Tea Party movement. As this case shows, contextualizing born-digital communication at the local, network, and community level is key to both historical research and archival preservation, particularly when determining access restrictions—including if such objects should be preserved at all. Avery Dame-Griff is a Lecturer in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Gonzaga University and author of The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet (NYU Press, 2023). He founded and serves as primary curator of the Queer Digital History Project (queerdigital.com), an independent community history project cataloging and archiving pre-2010 LGBTQ spaces online.
Kai Muir: "Herring Historical Ecology in the Strait of Georgia"
DONATE 🇨🇦 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donate-online/transchair 🇺🇸 https://extrweb.uvic.ca/donation-forms/united-states Chair in Transgender Studies: https://www.uvic.ca/research/transchair/index.php Transgender Archives: https://www.uvic.ca/transgenderarchives/index.php Moving Trans History Forward: https://www.uvic.ca/mthf KAI MUIR Herring Historical Ecology in the Strait of Georgia Thursday, March 19, 2026 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM PDT The aim of this study is to engage with present uncertainty over the appropriate management of Pacific herring stocks by expanding our understanding of the current status of these populations in relation to their historical counterparts. Kai Muir (he/him) is an Environmental Studies MSc. student in the Ocean History Lab at UVic. His master’s research is focused on assessing the potential of historical biological surveys and industry periodicals to inform modern management of Pacific herring stocks in the Strait of Georgia. This is his second major research project with the Ocean History Lab; in 2023, he completed an undergraduate Geography honours thesis quantifying the catch of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska throughout the rise and fall of the early-20th century salt cod industry. Outside of his historical research, Kai enjoys spending time in the field volunteering for local marine monitoring initiatives.See more videos from the Master Playlist playlist on YouTube.