Welcome to the Reading Room!
The Trans* Research Association of Ireland (TRAI) is running an online reading room every other month looking at trans studies materials. It is free to attend and open to all interested in trans studies. We invite attendees to suggest topics based on their own research and interests!
Upcoming Reads
Our second reading room will take place online on the 23rd of July from 6:30pm – 8:00pm Irish Time.
This reading room is a collaboration between the Trans* Research Association of Ireland, the Centre for Gender in Politics at Queen’s University Belfast and the study series to accompany the making of the Routledge Companion for Gender and Politics of Violence: Violent Unravelings, edited by shine choi, Cristina Masters & Marysia Zalewski.
We will be reading Trans Femme Futures: Abolitionist Ethics for Transfeminist Worlds (2024) by Nat Raha and Mijke van der Drift.
We encourage you to buy a copy of the book if you can, which is currently 40% off at Pluto Press. Participants in Ireland can also find it at Kennys, Paperxclips, and Books Upstairs. If purchasing the book is a barrier to you participating, please email us, and we will provide you with a copy.
You will be emailed the event link when you register.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I sign up? – We’ll have an Eventbrite link available once time and date have been selected.
How do I suggest a topic? – If you’ve attended Reading Room and want to suggest a reading for a future session, send us an email at transresearchireland@gmail.com.
How do I access the reading? We will let you know how to access the reading upon sign-up.
Can I join or suggest a topic if I’m not an academic? – Please do! Anyone is welcome to join. If you want to run a Reading Room session on non-academic topics or without a reading in advance, let us know and we can suggest alternative formats.
I meant to attend but I wasn’t able to finish the reading. Can I still participate? – Yes! Reading Room is an open-ended conversation, not a strict academic discussion.
Reading Room Code of Conduct
The reading room is hosted on Zoom.
- During the session there will be time for introductions in breakout rooms, discussion,
group feedback and further questions. Please use the raise hand function to speak
when you can or wait your turn to speak, and be mindful of taking up too much time. - Please also put your name, and if you feel comfortable, your pronouns in your title on
Zoom. - Racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, slut shaming, victim blaming,
ableist language and other/any forms of discrimination will not be tolerated. - Actively listen and support others. We are all coming from different backgrounds,
some of us may have spent/continue to spend extensive time in higher education, others may come to trans studies from artistic and community-based practice or be members of the community passionate about the field. Who you are or your formal educational training, does not make you a more or less important contributor to this discussion, nor does it indicate a greater or lesser degree of familiarity with the
materials. With that being said, be generous with your insights, explain theories and
concepts as you mention them, and if you don’t understand what someone has referenced, ask them! - Respect people’s privacy.
- If at any time you feel that the code of conduct has been broken, please directly message one of the TRAI board members who will have “TRAI” in their titles on Zoom. In this instance, we may pause or terminate the session or remove individuals if necessary in line with this code of conduct.
- If you have any concerns before or after a session, you can email us at
transresearchireland@gmail.com.
Previous Reads
23 April 2026: Cassius Adair and Aren Aizura; “The Transgender Craze Seducing Our [Sons]”; or, All the Trans Guys Are Just Dating Each Other. TSQ, 1 February 2022; 9 (1): 44–64.