Transgender Media Lab MA Fellowships
Carleton University (Ottawa, ON)
Starting September 2021 (2 year program)
Application deadline: 1 February 2021
Join the Transgender Media Lab!
Media creates horizons of possibility that in turn shape reality. When transgender people create audiovisual media, rather than simply being represented in it, their worldmaking helps change our collective world.
Under the directorship of Dr. Laura Horak, the Transgender Media Lab (TML) at Carleton University investigates the aesthetic, political, and cultural work of audiovisual media created by transgender, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming filmmakers and artists.
As part of that investigation, the lab is building the Transgender Media Portal, a collaborative digital tool that will enable new ways of analyzing these works and their circulation while making information about them available to trans arts communities and the public.
The TML is currently recruiting two MA students to conduct original thesis research on some aspect of transgender, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex and/or gender-nonconforming film- and video-making in Canada or the United States and to contribute to the development of the Transgender Media Portal. Note that our lab focuses on audiovisual work created by trans people.
Potential research topics include:
- Black trans film-, video-, and media-making
- Indigenous trans and Two-Spirit film-, video-, and media-making
- Trans-of-colour film-, video-, and media-making
- Contemporary trans web series
- Regional trans film and video movements
- Counting Past 2 (one of the first transgender film festivals, founded in Toronto in 1997)
- The work of Mirha-Soleil Ross (pioneering trans filmmaker and festival organizer)
- Theoretical, computational, or ethical aspects of building the Transgender Media Portal and cultivating its community of contributors.
In addition to the admissions funding package, travel bursaries, and awards offered by Carleton University, each fellow will receive:
- TML Scholarship of $1,500 per year
- TML Research Assistantship positions for up to 160 hours of RA work/year (up to ~$7,200/year)
- Funding for student travel for research and conferences
- If the fellow is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, they are also eligible to receive a $2,000/year top-up fellowship from Carleton University.
Interested candidates should apply to the Film Studies Master’s program at Carleton University. We encourage candidates to apply for additional awards and financial support. We welcome applications from anyone interested but advise international applicants to use the Carleton University Fee Estimator to estimate the cost of international tuition.
The Transgender Media Lab is committed to principles of equality and social justice. We especially encourage trans, queer, Black, and Indigenous candidates and candidates of colour to apply. Fellows will be expected to agree to a statement of values and abide by a code of conduct to ensure a safe, supportive working environment for all lab members and guests.
To apply:
- Email the TML’s director, Dr. Laura Horak (laura.horak@carleton.ca), to indicate your interest in the position.
- Follow the online instructions to apply for the Film Studies MA program. In the Statement of Intent in the application:
- Indicate your interest in being a Transgender Media Lab MA Fellow and include the following sentence: “I give permission for the graduate admissions committee to share my application materials and letters of reference with Dr. Laura Horak”;
- Describe your proposed TML-related thesis project;
- Describe any technical skills relevant to the Transgender Media Portal you may have, such as: library and archive training, UX/UI design, front-end development, content management systems (Drupal), CSS, scripting, linked open data, or online security and privacy. (Note that technical skills are relevant but not required!)
- Trans, queer, Black, and Indigenous candidates and candidates of colour are invited to self-identify.
Do you have questions? Feel free to reach out to lab director Laura Horak at laura.horak@carleton.ca. For questions about the Film Studies MA program, please contact graduate supervisor Aboubakar Sanogo at aboubakar.sanogo@carleton.ca.
Transgender Media Lab Fellowships are funded by an Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Early Researcher Award.