Queerness as Doing in Higher Education: Narrating the Insider/Outsider Paradox as LGBTQ+ Scholars and Practitioners

Guided by the scholarly personal narratives of LGBTQ+ higher education scholars, practitioners, and scholar-practitioners, this informative volume explores how individuals exist within and experience the insider/outsider paradox within higher education as they engage in disruption, queer methods, and action.

The second of a two-volume series, this book relates to the firsthand accounts and personal stories of the contributors in order to illustrate the challenges and opportunities that exist for queer and trans people. Framed through the concept of queerness as doing, this book takes up the important question of what it means to occupy both positions of oppression and degrees of privilege within society and in the context of work. It discusses how stories depict the nuances of the insider/outsider paradox relative to practicing queerness as a politic while identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community in higher education settings. The book then looks to the future, discussing implications for research and practice, using the lessons learned from the chapter authors.

Comprised of firsthand contributions and innovative scholarship, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of queer and trans studies, student affairs, gender and sexuality studies, and higher education, as well as those seeking to understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ scholars and practitioners as they navigate central tensions in their scholarship and practice.

Jesus Cisneros, Ph.D. (he/him/his/él), is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Foundations at the University of Texas at El Paso. Jesus obtained a doctorate in education policy and evaluation from Arizona State University, a master’s degree in higher education administration from Texas A&M University, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from New Mexico State University. He brings his knowledge of higher education research and practice to highlight the intersection of education and immigration. His research moves gender, sexuality, and immigration status, and their conceptual margins, to the center of analysis in an effort to explore and understand the way politics and identity interact with various axes of inequality.

T.J. Jourian, Ph.D. (he/him/his) is an independent scholar and consultant with Trans*Formational Change and an instructional designer with LifeLabs Learning. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Oakland University. T.J. earned his doctorate in higher education from Loyola University Chicago, studying how trans masculine students conceptualize masculinity. He earned an M.A. in student affairs administration with a Multicultural Education cognate from Michigan State University and has experience as a practitioner in Gender and Sexuality Centers and Residential Life. Centering trans and queer people of color’s experiences and epistemologies, his research examines race, gender, and sexuality in higher education, with particular attention to masculinity, transness, and racialization; campus gender and sexuality centers and practitioners; and trans*ing constructs and methodologies.

Ryan A. Miller, Ph.D. (he/him/his), is an Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he teaches courses on college student development, student affairs administration, and higher education leadership. His research agenda focuses on (1) the experiences of minoritized social groups in higher education, with emphasis on identities of disability, sexuality, and gender, as well as intersecting social identities; and (2) the institutionalization of diversity and equity initiatives within higher education, in curricular, administrative, and student affairs contexts.

Antonio Duran, Ph.D. (he/him/él) is Assistant Professor in the Higher and Postsecondary Education program at Arizona State University. Antonio received a Ph.D. in higher education and student affairs from The Ohio State University, an M.S. in student affairs in higher education from Miami University, and a B.A. in English and American literature from New York University. Antonio’s research examines how historical and contemporary legacies of oppression influence college student development, experiences, and success. In particular, he is interested in understanding and centering the lives of queer and trans people with multiple minoritized identities in postsecondary education settings.