As a Media Studies doctoral candidate at the University of Oregon, Beck Banks specializes in transgender media and transgender rurality. They partner with media activists outfits, such as Transilient and Queer Appalachia, to support and research the work these trans-driven organizations do in Central Appalachia. Originally from Dolly Parton country, Beck is curious about how rural-based trans media activists understand and work within their communities as well as how they are received by them. They examine trans television representation and activist efforts - or the performance of those. Having spent years as a reporter and in higher education communication, Beck teaches a variety of courses under the communication and media studies umbrella, ranging from public speaking to production survey to women and gender studies.

Beck Banks

Mayra Bottaro is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Oregon.&nbsp;

Mayra Bottaro

Hollis Griffin is associate professor of Communication at Denison University, where he teaches and conducts research on the politics of media culture, especially as they relate to gender and sexuality. He has published research in a variety of journals and is the author of Feeling Normal: Sexuality and Media Criticism in the Digital Age (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2017).

Hollis Griffin

Lauren Herold is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Critical Identity Studies at Beloit College. Her work explores community media, television history, and feminist and LGBTQ cultural production. Herold’s dissertation considers 1970s-1990s public access TV programming made by and for LGBTQ people as a televisual archive that offers insight into the structures of feeling circulating in queer communities. She holds a PhD in Screen Cultures from Northwestern University. For more information about her work, visit her website&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lcherold.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.lcherold.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640118842710000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1f-0drK3poijOqpOxcjhy5">https://www.lcherold.com/</a>.

Lauren Herold

Julia Himberg is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at Arizona State University. Her book,&nbsp;The New Gay for Pay: The Sexual Politics of American Television Production&nbsp;examines the role of television production in creating and challenging popular notions about LGBTQ identities and social change. Her work has appeared in journals such as&nbsp;Television &amp; New Media, Journal of Cinema &amp; Media Studies, Communication, Culture &amp; Critique,&nbsp;among others. She teaches courses on gender identity and sexuality, television, digital media, and consumer culture. She’s also an advocate for safe schools as a board member of GLSEN, which provides training and support in K-12 schools, focusing on sexuality and gender identity. You can follow her on Twitter @Jhimberg.

Julia Himberg

Alfred L. Martin Jr. is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at University of Iowa. Martin’s research focuses on race, sexuality, and media industries. Martin is currently&nbsp;completing work on his book&nbsp;The Queer Politics of Black-Cast Sitcoms&nbsp;which will be published&nbsp;in late 2019/early 2020 by Indiana University Press.&nbsp;

Alfred L. Martin Jr.

Maria San Filippo is an associate professor of media studies at Emerson College and editor of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfts20/current" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfts20/current&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593718402920000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF0f31G_-MbbtpfOy69SpnWQkK4vw">New Review of Film and Television Studies</a>. She authored the Lambda Literary Award-winning&nbsp;<a href="https://iupress.org/9780253008855/the-b-word/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iupress.org/9780253008855/the-b-word/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593718402920000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZwvgK2lvGimoEKFfsDqMeN4720g">The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television</a>&nbsp;(2013) and&nbsp;<a href="https://iupress.org/9780253052124/provociauteurs-iand-provocations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iupress.org/9780253052124/provociauteurs-iand-provocations/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593718402920000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH6rzOaiw_opJ5P74wc7aFGAKyl8Q">Provocauteurs&nbsp;and Provocations: Screening Sex in 21st&nbsp;Century Media</a>&nbsp;(2021), both published by Indiana University Press, and edited the collection&nbsp;After ‘Happily Ever After’: Romantic Comedy in the Post-Romantic Age, forthcoming in 2021 from Wayne State University Press. Her website is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.maria.sanfilippo.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.maria.sanfilippo.net&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593718402920000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFVRRwc0wJ-vEw_ViVDE8tpeELJ5Q">www.maria.sanfilippo.net</a>&nbsp;and she tweets at&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/cinemariasf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/cinemariasf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593718402921000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGvd_Ve-V24pTTtL0tEkWQskRmjOA">@cinemariasf</a>.