Programs & Services

The TRANSforming Gender Symposium

The annual TRANSforming Gender Symposium was founded in 2006. Sponsored by the Women and Gender Studies program and the GLBTQ Resource Center, the symposium began to create a space where the campus and wider community could learn about transgender and intersex identities and issues. Since its inception, the symposium has hosted numerous nationally and internationally known transgender and allied speakers, creating provoking dialogues throughout the community and furthering discussions throughout the year.

Every year the symposium is planned by a committee of staff, faculty, and students. Beginning in 2011 the symposium also opened up a proposal process for presenters interested in participating in the symposium.

The University of Colorado Boulder’s TRANSforming Gender Symposium is celebrating its sixth year! The Symposium hosts national and local transgender and genderqueer activists to address issues surrounding transgender, genderqueer and related identities. Previous presenters and participants have included academics, health professionals, community organizers, performance and visual artists, students, faculty, staff, youth, family members, community members and other interested folks.

The Symposium is free and open to the public. Please visit the Symposium Registration Page to register for this event. In addition to nationally recognized speakers, we are excited to be including workshops and panels throughout the day.

Lodging

Attendees of the Symposium are being given a discount rate of $75/night at the Boulder Outlook Hotel. When reserving a room, simply inform the staff that you are attending the Transforming Gender Symposium.

Location

The Symposium will take place in the Center for Community (C4C). The following links contain directions to the C4C as well as campus maps:
C4C
Campus Map

Co-Sponsors

We would like to thank the following departments and organizations for their co-sponsorship of the 6th Annual Transforming Gender Symposium:

The President's Fund for the Humanities, The Open Door Fund, Division of Student Affairs, Out Boulder, Department of Ethnic Studies, The Department of Anthropology, Women and Gender Studies, Community Health, the LGBT Studies Certificate program, TransAct, the Chancellor's Standing Committee on LGBT Issues, and the Women's Resource Center.

Transforming Gender Symposium Schedule

Keynote Speakers:

Jack Halberstam (Judith Halberstam), Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at University of Southern California
"Gaga Feminism: Pregnant Men, Heteroflexible Women, and the End of Normal"
Friday, March 9th
4-5:30pm
Abrams Room, 3rd floor of Center for Community

Girlyman, a gender queer alternative folk-rock band
"From Inception to Reception: Girlyman Talks about the History of the Band, Life on the Road, and their Musical Inspiration"
Saturday, March 10th
2-3:30pm
C4C Abrams Lounge

Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality
"How We Trans-Jacked the Federal Policy Agenda"
Saturday, March 10th
7-8:30pm
Abrams Room, 3rd floor of Center for Community

Emi Koyama, Multi-Issue Social Justice Activist
"Transgender Youth in the Sex Trade: How Mainstream Discourse on Sex Trafficking and Media Spectacle Invisibilize Transgender Youth."
Sunday, March 11
11:30am-1pm
Abrams Room, 3rd floor of Center for Community