University of Arizona Offers Nation's First Transgender Studies Program

In an effort to catch up on my "rounding error," I walked 5.45 miles today.  If I walk the same amount tomorrow, I will have made up the error, and I will be able to continue moving forward on the map from my last pinpoint.

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As I "walk" in each state, I promised to comment on their laws that affect transgender people.  But, in fairness, I want to also point out when there is tremendous progress and groundbreaking work that is being in done on behalf of transgender people.  As Abby generously pointed out in her comments to an earlier post, "Change of Route," although there are no specific statewide nondiscrimination legal protections for transgender people in the state of Arizona, "five Arizona cities - Tucson, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tempe and Sedona - have local ordinances banning LGBTQ discrimination. (Tucson was among the first in the country to do so, adding sexual orientation in 1978 & gender identity in 1999.)  This shows strong support for trans people. 

Furthermore, the University of Arizona in Tucson (Click for Virtual Tour) may actually be leading the country in transgender issues.  Building on groundbreaking programs started in the 1990s by Susan Stryker, the University of Arizona, a public research university located in Tucson, Arizona, will now be the first university in the United States to launch a "transgender studies" master’s program, starting, most likely, in 2017 (The New American).  The University of Arizona also plans to host The University of Arizona is planning to host an international transgender studies conference this Fall (Inside Higher Ed).  This is not the first effort of the university to focus on transgender issues. "In 2013, the university launched its Transgender Studies Initiative and engaged in cluster hiring of faculty members in transgender studies. Since 2014, the university has hosted one of the few peer-reviewed journals on interdisciplinary transgender studies in the world" (Inside Higher Ed).

At Arizona, one person has been a driving force behind many of the efforts related to transgender studies. Susan Stryker, director of the Institute for LGBT Studies and associate professor of gender and women’s studies at Arizona, proposed the Transgender Studies Initiative and co-founded the journal. (Inside Higher Ed).

“I’ve been working on this issue since the early 1990s,” Stryker said. “I have far more work on my plate right now than I feel I can actually do well. It’s like wanting to have an appetizer, main course and dessert, and they bring it all at once … But however successful or unsuccessful the Arizona Transgender Studies Initiative turns out to be, what we’ve done has helped change the perception of transgender studies throughout the academy.” (Inside Higher Ed).

Founded in 1885, UA was the first university in the Arizona Territory.  Construction of Old Main, the first building on Campus, began on October 27, 1887, and classes met for the first time in 1891 with 32 students in Old Main, which is still in use to this day  As of Fall 2015, total enrollment was more than 42,100 students, with the largest freshmen class ever at 8,100 students (Wikipedia).