The Writing and Media Center will host the second event of their annual “Speaker Series” on Nov. 4. The series focuses on topics of communication, as well as the impact different types of communication have on the Writing and Media Center and the Iowa State community. The second event, titled, “Linguistic Justice In and Beyond the Classroom: Language, Gender and Sexuality Scholars on Language Advocacy,” will be a virtual panel taking place from 4 to 5 p.m.

Panelists Allyson Jule, Lal Zimman and Joyhannah Yoo Garza will explore a wide range of topics, including the relationship between language and gender, pronoun usage and linguistic justice. The panel is full of highly qualified members in the fields of education, linguistics and gender studies.

Both Garza and Zimman are trained in the field of linguistics, Garza as a trained sociocultural linguist and postdoctoral fellow in the department of anthropology at Harvard University, and Zimman as an associate professor of linguistics at UC Santa Barbara. Jule has expertise in gender studies as an associate of the University of Oxford’s International Gender Studies Center and professor of education, as well as dean of the School of Education at Trinity Western University at British Columbia, Canada.

The event will also cover the topic of issues facing the transgender community. This will include topics such as trans-affirming language and the ability to make trans people feel more accepted. Zimman’s work focuses on gender-inclusive speech and language with regard to the transgender community. The goal of their work is “addressing transphobia and improving trans lives,” according to the event page.

Co-sponsors for the event are Iowa State’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity and Iowa State’s Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success.

Registration for the panel is open, but participants must register online first, as the event is virtual.

Click here to register for the event.