The Center’s research efforts address a number of crucial issues facing transgender communities across the globe. Here’s what some of our work does.
Geography, Demography, and Mobility
How many transgender people are there? Where do they live? How do the places they live affect the resources they have access to and the rights they are afforded? How do transgender people navigate space and place in their pursuit of livable lives? Our experts in this area seeks answer to these and other questions through novel combinations of geographic information system mapping, spatial modeling, ethnographic research, and critical humanistic inquiry.
Law, Politics, and Human Rights
What legal and political environments do transgender people face locally, nationally, and internationally? How do transgender communities achieve legal and political change? What barriers do they face in their pursuit of equality? How do transgender movements build coalitions to make transgender concerns central to the global project of human rights? Our experts in this area address these questions across political contexts through a variety of analytic methods.
Media, Technology, and Popular Culture
How are media representations of transgender people changing and what effects are they having? What does the increasing centrality of gender variance to popular culture mean for transgender communities? How do transgender people navigate the rapidly evolving technological environment? How do new technologies both alleviate and exacerbate inequality? Our experts in this area explore these crucial questions through both qualitative and quantitative inquiry.
Medicine, Health, and Well-Being
What health needs do transgender people have and how can they best be met? How do we ensure the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of transgender communities? Drawing on knowledge from across sociology, psychology, epidemiology, endocrinology, neuroscience, physiology, bioethics, and beyond, our experts in this area work to identify best practices for the provision of available, accessible, acceptable, and quality care to transgender communities across the globe.
Social Attitudes, Cultural Norms, and Public Opinion
What factors underlie prejudice against transgender people and how can they be changed? What role do cultural norms play in structuring people’s interactions with and perceptions of transgender people? How is public opinion on transgender social and political issues formed, and how does that opinion affect transgender communities? Our experts in this area seek answers to these questions through psychological measurement and sociological inquiry.
Youth, Family, and Higher Education
What difficulties do transgender youth face legally, socially, medically, and within the family? How do we create nurturing environments for them? What barriers to success do transgender people face in school, in universities, and in the academy? How do we make access to educational and developmental opportunities more equitable for transgender people? Our experts in this area address these questions across institutional contexts with diverse methods.