Feminists Talk Religion

In this special episode of Feminists Talk Religion, part of the ongoing Trans Studies in Religion and Feminism mini-series by El/yse Ambrose, contributors collectively reflect on the publication of a new discipline-defining text, Palgrave Handbook of Queer and Trans Studies in Religion (edited by Melissa M. Wilcox), and discuss their contributions to the volume and key conversations in the study of religion through trans and queer lenses. Featured voices include Laurel Zwissler, Janet Jakobsen, Elizabeth Pérez, Kori Pacyniak, Justin Sabia-Tanis, Dani Dempsey, and Kathryn Phillips. This episode was recorded at the 2026 University of California Riverside Conference on Queer and Trans Studies in Religion.

In this first episode of our “Trans Studies in Religion and Feminism” series, Dr. Melissa M. Wilcox talks to us about blazing trails and creating space for queer and trans voices in the study of religion.

Dr. Wilcox is Professor and Holstein Family and Community Chair of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author or editor of several books and journal issues, and numerous articles, on gender, sexuality, and religion. Her books include Coming Out in Christianity: Religion, Identity, and Community; Sexuality and the World's Religions; Queer Women and Religious Individualism; Religion in Today's World: Global Issues, Sociological Perspectives; and Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism, and Serious Parody. They are the co-editor of QTR: A Journal of Trans and Queer Studies in Religion.

Listen to our conversation with Dr. Peter Mena, author of a book on Late Antique Christian Lives read through Borderland Theory. We discuss the hagiographical desert as a metaphor for identities, Latinex theories in Religious Studies, writing and publishing your first monograph.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge of violence and hate against Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Even so, anti-Asian racism remains largely invisible in academic, religious, and public spaces. On November 18, 2022, panelists at the SBL/AAR Annual Meeting in Denver, CO examined the complex ways feminist studies in religion are entangled with this problem and must decolonize in order to be effective in anti-racist work. Panelists also explored the ways Asian and AAPI feminist scholars of religion contend with race and racism in their scholarship. 
This panel session is a part of the ongoing anti-racism initiative of Feminist Studies in Religion, Inc., the organization of scholars that publishes the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. Presided by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, other panelists include Rachel A. R. Bundang, Tamara C. Ho, Vijaya Nagarajan, and Najeeba Syeed-Miller.

What do we wish we'd known before starting a Ph.D. as an international student? In what ways can higher-education institutions better support international students and scholars? 
In Part 2 of this conversation, Esther Parajuli, a Nāga - Nepalese professor of Christan Theology in Kentucky, and Seong Huyn Lee, a Korean pastor and academic coach based in New Mexico offer insight into necessary changes for the international community. They are interviewed by Naiara Leão, a Brazilian Ph.D. student in the US and the UK.