Trystan T. Cotten
Associate Professor of Gender and Black Studies
California State University, Stanislaus
850 Monte Vista Rd.
Turlock, CA 95382
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
2011-Pres Associate Professor of Gender Studies, Gender Studies Program, California State
University, Stanislaus
2011-Pres Founder and Managing Editor, Transgress Press, Oakland, CA.
2007-11 Assistant Professor of Ethnic and Gender Studies, Dept. of Ethnic and Gender
Studies, California State University, Stanislaus.
2005-07 Visiting Lecturer, Dept. of Ethnic and Gender Studies, California State University,
Stanislaus
2002-05 Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies Program, State University of New York, Stony
Brook.
2003-05 Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Philosophy Women’s Studies, Suffolk Community
College, 2003-5
2001-02 Visiting Lecturer, Women’s Studies Program, State University of New York, Stony
Brook
EDUCATION
2002
1998
1994
1992
PhD Emory University, Interdisciplinary Studies (Philosophy; Women and Gender
Studies; Postcolonial Theory) Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts.
MA Interdisciplinary Studies (Ethnic Studies), Institute of the Liberal Arts
MTS Theological Studies, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
BA Emory University, Psychology and Religion
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2012
2008
2003
2003
2001
1999
Grant for Editorial Apprenticeship for Transgress Press, Center for Excellence in
Graduate Education
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research and Scholarship, College of Humanities and
Social Science, CSU, Stanislaus
Africana Studies Institute Fellow, Critical Theory and Engendering Africana Studies,
Cornell University
Program Award for Teaching Excellence in Women’s Studies
Resident Fellowship, Center for Public Scholarship
New England Board of Higher Education Dissertation Fellow
1995
Andrew Carnegie Mellon Fellow, Humanities
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
Hung Jury: Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men. Oakland, CA.
Transgress Press: 2012
Transgender Migrations: The Bodies, Borders, and Politics of Gender Transition. New
York: Routledge: 2011.
The Stories of Oprah: The Oprahification of American Culture (co-edited with Kimberly
Springer). UP Mississippi: 2010.
Cultural Sites of Critical Insight: Philosophy, Aesthetics, and African American and Native
Women’s Writings (co-edited with Christa Acampora). New York: SUNY Press: 2007.
(Un)making Race, Re-making Soul: Transformative Aesthetics and the Practice of Freedom
co-edited with Christa Acampora. New York: SUNY Press: 2007.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Middle Passages: Transectional Geographies of Multiple Migrations in the African
Diaspora.
Queering Africa, Trans-ing Diaspora: Transectionalities of Multiple Migrations
Second Thoughts: The Transition Memoirs of Ex-Lesbian Feminists
ESSAYS & BOOK CHAPTERS
“Hung Jury: Rethinking the Verdict on Female-to-Male Genital Surgery in Cultural Theory”
Lambda Nordica (forthcoming) 2013.
“Sometimes Drag Can Be a Drag.” In Trans*_homo: Differenzen-Allianzen-Widersprüche.
Edited by Justin Time, Jannik Franzen, and Michael Fürst. Berlin, Germany: Kunst,
Aktivismus und Wissenschaft, 2012.
“The Jury’s Still Out: Rethinking the Verdict on Female to Male Genital Surgery.” Introduction
to Hung Jury: Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men. Edited by Trystan Cotten
and Zander Keig. Oakland, CA: Transgress Press, 2012.
“Before and After.” In Hung Jury: Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men.
Edited by Trystan Cotten and Zander Keig. Oakland, CA: Transgress Press, 2012.
“Migration and Morphing.” Introduction to Transgender Migrations: The Bodies, Borders,
and Politics of Transition New York: Routledge, 2011.
“Lost in Translation: Irony and Contradiction in Harpo’s Production of Zora Neal Hurston’s
Their Eyes Were Watching God.” In The Stories of Oprah: The Oprafication of American
Culture. Co-edKimberly Springer. Jackson, MS: UP Mississippi, 2010.
“On the Res and In the Hood: African American and Native American Women Writers”
Introduction to Cultural Sites of Critical Insight: Philosophy, Aesthetics, and the African
American and Native American Women’s Writings. SUNY Press: 2007.
“Womanist Revisions of Historical Materialism” in Cultural Sites of Critical Insight:
Philosophy, Aesthetics, and the African American and Native American Women’s Writings
(with Christa Acampora). SUNY Press: 2007.
"The 'Mutable Resources' of Music for Intersubjective Dialogue: An Interview with Guitarist and
Songwriter Shelley Doty” in (Un)Making Race, Re-making Soul (with Christa Acampora).
SUNY Press: March 2007.
“Black Women Writers and the Protest Genre” in Feminist Encyclopedia of African American
Literature,” in African American Feminist Encyclopedia. Ed. Betsy Belleau. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press: 2005.
“A Contemporary Pragmatist: Profiling the Contributions of Elizabeth Flower to Ethics” in
Dictionary of Modern American Philosophy. Ed. Dorothy Rogers. London: Thoemmes Press,
2005.
"Alice Walker." In Significant Contemporary Feminists: A Biocritical Sourcebook. Ed. Jennifer
Scanlon. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group: 1998.
"Religion in Atlanta's Queer Community." In Religious Pluralism in Metropolitan Atlanta. Ed.
Gary Laderman, pp. 291-310. Atlanta: Scholars Press: 1996.
PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS
2012 “Building Coalitions between Queer/Trans, Migrant, and POC Communities in West
Oakland, CA” Exhibition, Trans*_Homo at Schwulesmuseum in Berlin, Germany,
October 30th, and at The Center for Gender, Ethnicity, and Equal Rights, Roskilde
University in Copenhagen, Denmark, Nov 1st.
2012 “Building Coalitions between Queer/Trans, Immigrant, and POC Communities in the
Southern United States.” Keynote Address. Southern Comfort Conference. September
21st. Atlanta, GA.
2012 “MLD Phalloplasty: New Advancements in FTM Genitoplasty” and “Hung Jury:
Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men” Southern Comfort Conference.
September 21st. Atlanta, GA.
2012 “The Race and Gender Balancing Act”; “Ups and Downs of FTM Phalloplasty”; “Hung
Jury: Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men” Gender Odyssey. August
5th. Seattle, Washington.
2012 “Current Option of FTM and MTF Genital Surgery.” Gender Spectrum. July 19th.
Berkeley, CA.
2012 Snatch My Blackness! Race, Space, and Migration in the African Trans Diaspora.
Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference. July 5th. Paris, France.
2012 Hung Jury: Testimonies of Genital Surgery by Transsexual Men. Philadelphia Trans
Health Conference. June 1st, Philadelphia, PA.
2012 Transgender Migrations: Race, Space and Materiality in African Trans Diaspora. May
24th, Trans-forming Politics: Politicizing Trans Conference. Humbolt University.
Berlin, Germany.
2012 Snatch My Blackness! Race, Space, and Materiality in Trans Migrations of the African
Diaspora. Queer Places, Practices, and Lives, May 19th, Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio.
2012 Mapping Multiple Migrations in the African Trans: Preliminary Ethnographic Findings.
Georgia State University. April 2nd. Atlanta, GA.
2012 Transgender Migrations: The Bodies, Borders, and Politics of Transitioning. March
26th. Charis Books & More, Atlanta, GA.
2011 Urological Updates of FTM Genitoplasty: MLD Phalloplasty in Belgrade, Serbia.
Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, June 4th Philadelphia, PA.
2011 Rethinking Feminist Theory through FTM Autobiography. Invited lecture. Women’s
Studies Colloquium Series at Appalachian State University, April 5th. Boone, North
Carolina.
2011 Panel moderator and presenter: “Complicating Discourse(s) of Privilege and Power in
Transsexual and Transgender Lives.” Queer as an Active Verb GLBTQ Studies
Conference. April 1st. University of North Carolina, Asheville.
2011 Gender Transitioning on College Campuses: Issues and Approaches. Sensitivity
workshop training for clinicians, therapists, and psychiatric coordinators. St. Mary’s
College Counseling Center and Service, February 23rd. Moraga, CA.
2010 Figuring Female Masculinity in Transsexual Autobiography. Sonoma State University.
February 23, 2010. Invited lecture for Queer Lecture Colloquium.
2009 Politics and Possibilities: Dialogical Intersections between Feminists, FTMs, Femmes, and
Transwomen. National Women’s Studies Association. Panel moderator. Atlanta, Ga.
November.
2008 Irony and Contradiction in Harpo’s Simulacrum of Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were
Watching God. National Association of African American Studies. Baton Rouge, LA.
February
2007 Women of Color, Philosophy, and Aesthetics. Symposium: Cultural Sites of Critical
Insight. SUNY, Stony Brook. March.
2005 Diversity Training in Campus Life. August. California State University, Stanislaus.
Turlock, CA.
2004 Exploring the Contradictions of Race and Gender in the Supreme Court Grutter Decision.
SCCC Annual Philosophical Meetings. Invitation to respond to Professor Eduardo
Mendieta. Long Island, NY. April.
2003 Women of Color and Philosophy: Alice Walker and the Problem of Social Totality in Early
Marx. American Philosophical Association 77th Pacific Division Meeting, San Francisco,
March.
2003 Globalization and Its Dis/Contents: The Question of Transnational Feminist Solidarity in
the 21st Century” Invited lecture. Women’s History Month Lecture Series: Globalize This!
Bridges and Borders Facing Women. Suffolk College, Long Island, March.
2002 If Today Looks Like Yesterday. National Women’s Studies Association, Las Vegas, June.
2001 Social Totality, Power, and Karl Marx’s Historical Materialism in Alice Walker’s
Meridian. Prime Time Colloquium Series, State University of New York, Stony Brook,
March.
2001 Black Women’s Literature as Sites of Philosophical Reflection: The Early Writings of
Alice Walker as an Illustrative Case. Invited lecture. Philosophy Celebrates Black History
Month, University of Louisville, Louisville, February.
2001 Womanist Philosophy of Revolutionary Struggle: Black Women’s Literature as Sites of
Philosophical Reflection. Annual Meeting of the National Association of African American
Studies. Houston, February.
2000 Philosophical Transitions in the Early Writings of Alice Walker. University of Maine,
February.
1999 Nihilism and Freedom in Alice Walker's Early Works. Marxist-Socialist Colloquium
Series. University of Maine, Orono. December.
1999 Identities, Interests, and Intellectuals in the Diasporic Literature of Contemporary Women
novelists. Second Annual National Black Herstory Conference. Atlanta. March.
1999 Womanist Philosophy of Revolutionary Struggle: Alice Walker's Search for a Form and
Method. Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion. Raleigh, NC. March.
1997 Alice Walker's Womanist Aesthetic of Resistance. American Philosophical Association,
Eastern Divisional Meetings. Philadelphia. December.
1997 Collaborative Ambition: Women Building Community Across Academic Borders. Toxic
Towers: The Impact of Higher Education on Women. Akron. August.
1996 A Tradition Within a Tradition: The Insurgent Politics of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
Christians. Lecture delivered at the Atlanta College of Art Speakers’ Colloquium. Atlanta.
April.
1996 Packaging and Consuming Knowledges and Identities. The 1996 Over-the-Counter
Culture for $ale Conference. Atlanta. April.
1996 Race, Religion, and Sexuality: A Phenomenology of Black Lesbian Desire. American
Academy of Religion. New Orleans. November.
1996 Between Two Paradigms: The Philosophical Underpinnings of Institution-Building by
Queer Jews and Christians. Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion. Columbia.
March.
1995 Finding Common Ground: Allies Across Race, Class, and Gender. National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force 8th Annual Institute: Creating Change. Renaissance Center. Detroit.
November.
1995 Constructing Spaces and Determining Bodies: Lesbian In/visibility and Religious Identity.
American Academy of Religion. Philadelphia. November.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
2010-11
Faculty-in-Residence Committee, CSU, Stanislaus.
2007-11
Senate Representative of Ethnic and Gender Studies, CSU, Stanislaus.
2006-09
Program Assessment Coordinator. Ethics and Gender Studies Program. CSU,
Stanislaus.
2006-07
Faculty in Residence. Campus Village. CSU, Stanislaus.
2002-05
Senate Representative for Women’s Studies. SUNY, Stony Brook.