A conversation with UMSI Assistant Professor of Information Oliver L. Haimson, author of Trans Technologies (MIT Press), hosted by UMSI Professor Kishonna Gray, on how technology creates new possibilities for transgender people, and how trans experiences, in turn, create new possibilities for technology. Book signing and reception to follow. Free book copies for the first 50 in-person attendees. Please see details of the event here.

RSVP for in-person attendance here. Register to attend online here.

Book description:
Mainstream technologies often exclude or marginalize transgender users. Trans Technologies describes what happens when trans people take technology design into their own hands. Oliver L. Haimson, whose research into gender transition and technology has defined this area of study, draws on transgender studies and his own in-depth interviews with more than 100 creators of technology—including apps, games, health resources, extended reality systems, and supplies designed to address challenges trans people face—to explain what trans technology is and to explore its present possibilities and limitations, as well as its future prospects.

Haimson surveys the landscape of trans technologies to reveal the design processes that brought these technologies to life, and to show how trans people often must rely on community, technology, and the combination of the two to meet their basic needs and challenges. His work not only identifies the role of trans technology in caring for individuals within the trans community but also shows how trans technology creation empowers some trans people to create their own tools for navigating the world. Articulating which trans needs and challenges are currently being addressed by technology and which still need to be addressed; describing how trans technology creators are accomplishing this work; examining how privilege, race, and access to resources impact which trans technologies are built and who may be left out; and highlighting new areas of innovation to be explored, Trans Technologies opens the way to meaningful social change.

Author bio:
Dr. Oliver Haimson is an assistant professor at University of Michigan School of Information and author of Trans Technologies (MIT Press, 2025). He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award. Haimson conducts social computing research focused on envisioning and designing trans technologies.

ESC is co-sponsoring the event with the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI), Digital Studies Institute (DSI), Institute for Research on Women & Gender (IRWG), and Spectrum Center.