Michigan Community College Gender &amp; Sexuality Conference

Presenter Biographies

Mary Mullalond has been teaching in the English & College Readiness Department at WCC since 2005. As faculty advisor of the college's Outspace+ club, she loves getting to support the queer students at WCC. She enjoys reading children's books and spending time outside with her wife and two kids.

Lorant Peeler (they/them) is the Program Specialist for Education & Training at the University of Michigan Spectrum Center, a position they took on this year after three years as the Program Specialist for Events and Partnerships there. They are also part of the planning committee for this year's MCCGSC. They are very passionate about LGBTQ+, racial, and disability justice, and the intersections of those movements. Lorant will be attending the University of Pittsburgh's Master of Education in Higher Education in Fall 2023 to continue their learning and career in the field.

10:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Keynote: Finding Queer Joy Through Community Care

Jennie Rokakis (she/her), Schoolcraft College

Jennie works as a Learning Support Services Assistant at Schoolcraft College. Part of her role includes co-coordinating a diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership program. She has a Bachelor's degree in Women's and Gender Studies and a Master's degree in Higher Education/Student Affairs, both from Eastern Michigan University. Jennie is on the leadership team for the LGBTQIA+ Intergenerational TimeBank. Jennie also enjoys gardening and playing board games with her wife and two cats- the cats mostly just knock game pieces to the floor.

Learn about the ways in which community care and mutual aid can build queer community and cultivate queer joy. This workshop will discuss the LGBTQIA+ Intergenerational TimeBank in Southeast Michigan as an example of queer joy and connection through caring for our queer and local communities. Participants will gain the tools necessary to begin or join queer-centered mutual aid within their own communities.

11:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Break

11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Session 1

Intersex 101

Latitude Brown (they/them), Eastern Michigan University

Latitude is a cheerful lit student aspiring to be a librarian. They are the vice president and founder of Eastern Michigan University's LGBTQIA+ club, Crystal Queer. They are intersex, they have a cat named Sodapop, and their favorite color is pink. They are passionate about diverse literature, Michigan, photos of cats, art heists, access to information, community colleges, and sleeping. They read 281 books last year!!! You can find them book blogging at geographreads.com.

A brief overview and introduction to intersex as a concept.

The Changing Pronoun in Academia

Carolyn Crane (she/her), Washtenaw Community College

Carolyn Crane has taught English for over thirty years, mostly at the college and university level. She currently teaches at Washtenaw Community College and Sierra College in northern California. In addition to being a straight ally to the LGBTQA community, Carolyn is an environmentalist working to restore native habitat.

We will explore and discuss how the pronoun has evolved along with social change, specifically in the academic landscape. How do these changes affect our assignments and curriculum? How do we support nonbinary students and their choice of pronouns?

Exploring an Underground Art Form: Get Keen on Zines

Wren Wilson (they/them), Washtenaw Community College

Acrylic painter, poet, and zinester Wren is beginning their college journey with a General Studies degree at Washtenaw Community College to explore all their interests before they transition into studying psychology. Their future counseling practice will be grounded in the artistic, spiritual, and social justice principles they cherish.

A story about discovering and connecting to the queer community through an underground art form.

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Session 2

The Queer College Search

Lorant Peeler (they/them), University of Michigan

Are you a student entering or transferring colleges soon and wondering how to tell if your potential institutions are LGBTQ+ friendly? Do you work at a college or university and wonder what students will be looking for when searching for an LGBTQ+ friendly institution? Both audiences are welcome to attend this session and learn what resources are available for the search, keywords to look out for, and what may indicate that an institution puts actual weight behind its LGBTQ+ inclusive messaging.

Reclaiming Queer Narratives through Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Lisa Green (they/them), Eastern Michigan University

Lisa Green is a queer undergraduate transfer student at Eastern Michigan University who started their educational journey at St. Clair County Community College. They intend to graduate with a B.A. in English in April 2023, after which they will move on to grad school. Lisa hopes to become an English community college professor after being inspired to join the profession through three successful years as a writing tutor. They are a current club officer with EMU's LGBTQ+ student club, Crystal Queer, as well as an alumni of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for two-year colleges, having served as both a chapter officer and regional officer.

Stop me if you've heard this one--you all meet in a tavern. Tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons and Dragons have surged in popularity in recent years, reaching new heights of diversity and inclusion. Yet, TTRPGs have always been a natural haven for queer people, through foundational tropes such as the “found family” and roleplaying performance of identity. These vehicles of storytelling can serve important roles, even life-saving ones, in the lives in queer people. In this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss history of LGBTQ+ representation in media, both positive and negative, identity exploration of gender and sexuality performance, and community-building through TTRPGs. Whether you are brand new to TTRPGs or expanding your knowledge, you’ll learn something new about TTRPGs as a storytelling outlet for queer joy.

Faculty Lightning Talks

Gender & Sexuality in Composition Courses

Liz Jacoby (she/her), St. Clair County Community College

Liz Jacoby is a Professor of English at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Michigan

A brief talk on representation in composition courses.

LGBTQI Poets

Maryam Barrie (she/her), Washtenaw Community College

Married Mother, Writes, Lives in Woods. I've taught literature and writing at WCC for thirty eight years!

A padlet presentation full of poets who identify as LGBTI to bring authors to attendee's attention.

Gender Depictions in Famous Children’s Books

Jessica Hale (she/her), Washtenaw Community College

Dr. Jessica Hale is a faculty member at Washtenaw Community College in the Department of English and College Readiness. She earned her Doctorate in Education at Eastern Michigan University and a Graduate Certificate in Language and Literature from Indiana University.

Children's picture books contain implicit messages about gender roles. In this session, attendees will unpack the gendered messages in famous children’s books and discuss strategies for creating queer joy in their favorite stories.

1:45 pm. - 2:00 p.m.

Break

2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Session 3

Open Mic (in person only)

Moderator: Tom Zimmerman (he/him)

Tom teaches English and directs the Writing Center at WCC. He also edits The Huron River Review and The Big Windows Review as well as serving as faculty advisor of the WCC Poetry Club. He has been teaching at WCC since 1992. He was a high school English teacher in the 1980s and early 1990s. He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and a retired racing greyhound.

Join us for an in-person open mic! Share your love for visual arts, music, poetry, spoken word, and more.

Trivia (virtual only)

Moderator: Jennie Rokakis (she/her)