Jen James

Austin Oswald, (They/Them) Assistant Professor, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University Dr. Austin Oswald is a community-engaged scholar deeply committed to the liberation of LGBTQ+ people across the life course, particularly those with intersecting marginalized identities. They are the recipient of a 2024 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant for a project that explores “queering” the age-friendliness of Nova Scotia. In addition, they received a 2025 Research Nova Scotia New Health Investigator Grant for a provincial survey study assessing the health of LGBTQ+ Nova Scotians and their access to culturally responsive healthcare. #emancipatorysciences #FeatureFriday

Austin Oswald Dr. Oswald’s research pushes the boundaries of what constitutes an “age-friendly” community, advocating for more equitable and socially just approaches to aging among diverse LGBTQ+ populations. They are particularly proud of a recently co-authored paper with Drs. Vanessa Fabbre and Sarah Jen, in which they propose a framework for queer gerontology. The title of this open-access publication is Queer Gerontology: Principles for Advancing Rigor and Justice. Principles for Advancing Rigor and Justice. 1. Deepening Visibility and Awareness 2. Developing and Applying Critical Perspectives 3. Engaging Reflexivity as a Form of Rigor 4. Advancing Epistemological and Methodological Diversity #emancipatorysciences #FeatureFriday

Jason (Jace) Flatt, (He/Him/They/Them) Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Health Jace’s $5+ million-funded research portfolio works to better understand health concerns and needs of diverse sexual and gender minorities or LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and additional identities) people living with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and their caregivers and care providers. Some of his recent research has focused on the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community around caregiving needs, risk and concerns for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and navigating healthcare and long-term care services. You can learn more about Jace’s research at www.RainbowsofAging.org. #emancipatorysciences #FeatureFriday

Jace Flatt Stonewall Generations Study funded by the Alzheimer’s Association. It is my currently funded study recruiting LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ people aged 50 and older https://www.rainbowsofaging.org/stonewall

Dr. Flatt and Dr. Oswald are two people within our network that are doing incredible work in the intersection of queer identities and aging. #FeatureFriday #emancipatorysciences

queer Historically, queer was used as a derogatory term to label someone who is homosexual as "outisde, not from within." In the late 20th and early 21st century, this term was reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community and used as a term of resistance in movemnets like Queer Nation (fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility). Now, queer is an umbrela term that means non-heteronormative identities and sexualities. Archives, T. N. (2021, February 9). The National Archives - “Queer” history: A history of Queer [Text]. The National Archives Blog. https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/queer-history-a-history-of-queer/ #emancipatorysciences #TerminologyTuesdays

In the 2nd week of pride month we wanted to highlight a term that has had a large influence within the community. #emancipatorysciences #TerminologyTuesdays

Queering the Toolkit: Sexual Health in the Era of PrEP, DoxyPEP, and U=U. In this dissertation, I examine how the biomedicalization of sexual health, particularly through interventions like PrEP and ARTs (to prevent HIV transmission) and DoxyPEP (to prevent bacterial STIs), is reshaping both provider-patient relationships and broader cultural understandings of risk, pleasure, and care within GBTQ+ communities. To do so, I draw on interviews with primary care and sexual care-focused medical providers and GBTQ+ community members in the San Francisco Metro Area. Biomedicalization is a multi-layered social process that captures the rapid transformation of medical knowledge, technologies, and practices, with particular attention to the dynamics of power and structural inequality. It is especially useful for understanding the intersection of culture, power, and health practices in contemporary contexts. In my interviews, I find that providers and patients navigate complex ideas of risk, classification, and cultural meanings of sex and sexual health, centering the existence and use of biomedical tools in their decision-making and meaning-making processes. I also find that biomedicalization within this arena is made more dynamic by how it interacts with queer ways of knowing and queer embodigments of sexual agency. #emancipatorysciences #ThesisThursday Ryan DeCarsky (He/Him)

This week we wanted to highlight a Doctoral Candidate from the University of Washington doing research in Queering and sexual health! #emancipatorysciences #ThesisThursday

Ethan Cicero Assistant Professor, Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar, Butler-Williams Scholar Dr. Cicero’s program of research focuses on the interrelationship between social inequities and the effects of adverse and affirming social conditions on the health and well-being of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) adults. With a particular emphasis on promoting healthy aging and reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, Dr. Cicero’s work is at the forefront of addressing critical gaps in our understanding of aging and cognitive health among TNB populations. Throughout his research career, Dr. Cicero has pioneered methodological innovations in studying TNB adults, employing advanced epidemiologic, community-engaged, and mixed-methods approaches #emancipatorysciences #FeatureFriday

Ethan Cicero His research contextualizes healthcare experiences, holistically examines health trajectories, and investigates cognitive function and decline while filling longstanding methodological voids in transgender health research. Notably, he was among the first researchers to document health differences and disparities across TNB subgroups, including transgender women, transgender men, and nonbinary adults. His leadership has shaped clinical guidelines for gender-affirming care, informed inclusive healthcare education and nursing curricula, and influenced national policy. His scholarship has been cited in landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases that have advanced civil rights for transgender people in education, healthcare, employment, and military service. The most notable case, Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, set legal precedent that Title IX protections extend to transgender students #emancipatorysciences #FeatureFriday

Dr. Cicero focuses his research on understanding and addressing aging amongst trans and nonbinary people. #FeatureFriday #emancipatorysciences

As we are kicking of pride month, we wanted to highlight two people within our network Xan Nowakowski and Ethan Cicero. Dr. Nowakowiski does work in LGBTQ+ Studies as well as work in aging with chronic conditions. #FeatureFriday #emancipatorysciences

Your Body is Not Your Own: (Dis)embodied Sexual and Mental Health in Evangelical Purity Culture My ongoing research is rooted in the relationship between mental health and cisgendered norms and social structures. In my dissertation, I explore negative mental health experiences, particularly pertaining to disordered eating and sexual dysfunction, of participants assigned female at birth (AFAB) within the Protestant, evangelical movement called purity culture. Drawing on 65 in-depth interviews, I utilize constructivist grounded theory to center the concept of bodily autonomy, with particular attention to how bodily autonomy is confiscated by purity culture and its efforts to enforce conservative, cisheteronormative control over ‘dangerous’ AFAB bodies. I focus on the repression and objectification of gendered, cisgendered, and sexualized bodies, finding that participant experiences of gender, sexuality, and ‘sin’ are deeply intertwined. #emancipatorysciences #ThesisThursday

There are many scholars who are doing important research in LGBTQ+ studies that we wanted to highlight. Rebecca Wolfe recently finished her PhD in Sociology from the University of California and focuses her studies on gender, sexuality, and mental health. #ThesisThursday #emancipatorysciences

Epistemology of the Closet Using the metaphor of the "closet" to describes the ways that literature and heteronormative Western culture limit our understanding of sexual identity, Sedgwick examines the ways in which the closet reinforces social power dynamics and structures promoting shame, but also explores idea of secrecy being used both to exclude and privilege. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. (1990). Epistomology of the Closet. #emancipatorysciences #FeatureFriday

For the month of June, the Emancipatory Science Lab has decided to highlight people who are doing work in LGBTQ+ Studies! This Terminology Tuesday we are highlighting a term coined by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. #terminologytuesday #emancipatorysciences

Forcibly sterilized in California prisons, victims stitch together memorial quilt At the age of 24, Kelli Dillon began showing signs of early menopause. Her periods stopped. She lost 100 pounds. She began waking up at night in a

Since 1909, more than 20K people were forcibly sterilized in California prisons. Victims were often told they needed intensive procedures, w/out being told of the consequences.

Now, victims are creating a memorial quilt, partly to push for restitution.

missionlocal.org/2025/02/forc...

Egg prices are soaring again. Here’s why and what to expect Bird flu has killed millions of hens in recent weeks, shrinking the supply of eggs and hiking up prices at grocery stores.

The price of eggs in the US is spiking, mostly due to #H5N1 bird flu. Solving the problem requires urgent, important communications from the CDC & FDA* and rapid development of research by the NIH**

* Currently paused by Executive Order
** Grant reviews now all canceled
www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...

Trump freeze on NIH grant reviews alarms scientists, with long-term impact uncertain While the National Institutes of Health employs 20,000-plus workers and spans 27 institutes and centers, the agency’s main job is to fund researchers

Trump freeze on NIH grant reviews alarms scientists, with long-term impact uncertain

For Survivors of Forced Sterilization in California Prisons, a Rushed Shot at Justice A state board deciding reparations for women sterilized against their will rejected most applications. Advocates are now racing against a January deadline for victims to appeal.

A state board deciding reparations for women sterilized against their will in California prisons rejected most applications. Advocates are now racing against a January deadline for survivors to reapply.

NEW in Bolts: boltsmag.org/forced-...

Opinion | Silicon Valley’s tech elite want to make superbabies. Their kids may suffer for it The latest fertility tech invites parents to select baby traits like shopping at Whole Foods.

New Op-Ed with colleague and friend Julia Brown (UCSF): sfstandard.com/opinion/2024...

So far, we know of 5 women who have been killed because of their state's abortion bans, 4 of whom are women of color. That's not an accident. Abortion bans are intentionally racist, and Black women already have 3X greater maternal mortality rate than white women. This deadly result IS the point.

Desert background in strong purple and pink color tones. Event details (listed in post) superimposed in foreground.

PLEASE AMPLIFY: We will host our Summer 2025 workshop on #Indigenous #Health & Artificial Intelligence to take place on the lands of the Ak-Chin Maricopa Indian Community in AZ week of June 2-6: indigidata.org

Travel & Lodging 100% Covered
Deadline to apply: January 31st #AI

This chart tells such a sad story of how violent anti-Black racism is in the US. It also shows the role that structural racism plays in making domestic inequality so much worse in the US compared to other rich countries.

Trump allies eye overhauling Medicaid, food stamps in tax legislation As Republican leaders look for ways to offset the costs of a new set of tax cuts, social safety net programs are under discussion.

We've seen this movie before. Republicans want to keep tax cuts that will massively increase the deficit. They don't want to say they are cutting SNAP and Medicaid. So instead, they will use administrative burdens to the same end.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

✨Inspiring Emancipatory Sciences Lab Reception at the #GSA2024 conference! Generations united for justice, sharing radical visions for aging equity. Beautiful to see emerging & established scholars building the future of critical gerontology together! @jenjamesphd.bsky.social

All - Bluesky Directory A curated collection of all things relating to the Blue Sky social media platform.

Hello fellow old!! lol! I discovered it accidentally but then I went looking. Here's a directory: blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...
Folks just make lists of people -- so you can find/make all the soc of XYZ folks etc. I had to do it online though, not the app. But maybe just me?

Also thank you to everyone creating these starter packs! When I first took a look around here a year ago I didn't know how to find anyone. Instantly and easily following so many folks is awesome!

OK. Post-election I immediately caught a bad bug so I spent a week being sick, exhausted, and sad. Now I'm back and ready for what's next. And ready to give socials another try. Took a looong break from the other place but I hear it's nice here? Here for articles, memes, discourse, and plotting.