LAS News interviewed our inaugural Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Associate Sawyer Kemp and Chair Mimi Thi Nguyen about our "unique" "first of its kind" fellowship:

 

[Sawyer] Kemp’s work in theater and literary history allowed Illinois students and others to consider the long histories of gender and how that can be used as part of today’s rhetoric. In their first year in the role, Kemp taught a seminar that filled with a waitlist within days of registration.

“After being in this role, I feel more strongly that every discipline could benefit from a trans studies scholar,” Kemp said. “I’ve learned that there are a lot of fields and a lot of disciplines that students want trans studies, and they want to do it right. They want to help as many people as they can. I was impressed with how many students enrolled to be an ally and to do right by their peers.”

 Read more about the first permanent postdoctoral fellowship in transgender studies here!