The 2025 CSIS 301 Trans Justice Syllabus
In fall 2025, students in CSIS 301: Introduction to Trans Studies at the University of British Columbia created as their final assignment a mini syllabus for a topic that, based on what they have learned about trans studies, they felt was important for the field of trans studies and for advancing trans justice. This assignment was inspired by the syllabi designed by Sociologists for Trans Justice and the Trans Studies Syllabus for Bullshit Times, which have been important educational tools in a time of intense anti-trans backlash. Several students opted to publish their assignments on this blog so that, together, they might serve as a resource for anyone interested in reading or teaching in trans studies.
Content on this blog is subject to a CC-B-NC-NC Creative Commons Licence.
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Bodies in Play: How Sex, BDSM & Desire Inform Gender
Author: Lara Ben Zvi Introduction The goal of this syllabus is to engage with trans sex politics; specifically how the creation and regulation of trans bodies is motivated by normative understandings of what pleasure & sex has to look like. Trans bodily pleasure is currently an ignored battleground, under the effects of what Andrea Long…
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Transmasculine Invisibility in Medical Practice
Author: Kade MacKillop Introduction Transmasculine individuals face unique roadblocks in seeking medical care, reflecting a wider, systemic invisibility of transmasculine lives. Research regarding the causes and possible solutions for this issue is important for the field of trans studies, in order to help bridge the knowledge gap on transmasculine-specific phenomena and dispel the invisibility and…
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Trans Studies Syllabus for Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Pleasure
Author: Amane Hall Introduction This syllabus will cover the topics on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and the oppositional responses of CSE being taught to youths in Western societies. The topic of sexuality and gender is often invisibilized, indoctrinated, and inescapable. Procreation is the most prioritized goal on a species level, and as of now, penis…
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Growing Old and Being Trans: How Can Trans Studies Take Better Care of Our Elders?
Author: Mx. Jones Introduction When a friend told me that their parent had come out as non-binary, I was filled with joy and wide-eyed curiosity. Since then, they’ve started HRT. This brought a question to mind: What does transition look like for someone in their 50s? Much ink has been spilled about trans youth, how…
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Trans Justice Syllabus: Trans-masculinities – Social Norms and Bodies
Author: Isaac Russell Introduction In a world that values and places at the top of a privileged social hierarchy a masculinity based upon specific narratives of relationships, social roles, personalities, and bodies, navigating ones often conflicting identity and lived experiences in contrast with the social norms imposed on masculine presentations can be a difficult experience…
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Trans Justice Syllabus: Transness in Sport
Author: DPW Introduction Throughout trans history and ongoing debates, transness in sport has been a highly contested topic. Discussions have focused on fairness, gendered categories, inclusion, and the so-called “protection” of cisgender athletes which have dominated headlines, often spreading misinformation, transphobic ideologies, and discrimination. As Stryker argues, transgender studies is a form of “desubjugated knowledges”,…
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Studying the Transgender Experience of Aging: A Syllabus
Author: Anjali Jaster Introduction Health dominates and controls every aspect of human life. With too much deterioration of health, we die. It is that simple. However, awareness and attention to health, and health impacts, are not always at the forefront of the studying of humans–nor in our conversations either. While this is not said to…
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