Introduction by series curators, Dr. Roland L. Leak, associate professor of marketing at North Carolina A&T, and Rebekah Modrak, professor of art at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor In the wake of massive racial protests over the past year, some companies began the work of re-evaluating how their brand messaging…

Introduction by series curator Dr. Lata Murti, associate professor of sociology at University of Massachusetts Global “Educational institutions are the ONE thing that we all do for 13 years,” writes Dr. Trinity Davis in her contribution to this series. But our experiences of these institutions differ widely according to race…

Enacting Health Justice for a Flourishing Future — Introduction by series curators Andrés Cordero, Jr. (he/they), Dr. B. Ethan Coston (they/them), Deandra Escañuela (she/her/ella), and Natalie Malone (she/her) I won’t lie to you: it’s a scary time to be “out” lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, two-spirit, and otherwise not heterosexual, not cisgender (LGBTQIA2+) scholars and teachers…

Queering Museum Content & Public Engagement — By Sean Kramer and Mari Longmire This piece is a part of our Spark series: Living an LGBTQIA2+ Life Contrary to what the title suggests, the video series The Sex Ed Class You Never Had is not exclusively about sex education. Rather, it is a set of short, creative, sometimes…

Pleasure and Healing in Kink and BDSM — By Catherine Schaefer and G. Nic Rider This piece is a part of our Spark series: Living an LGBTQIA2+ Life What is Kink? What is it that defines kink and BDSM? Is it a practice, an identity, an orientation, or even all three? As with other practices and identities that have been marginalized…

By Amy C. Moors, Sharon Flicker, and Michelle Vaughan This piece is a part of our Spark series: Living an LGBTQIA2+ Life Some people agree to be romantically, emotionally, and sexually exclusive to one person (commonly known as monogamy). Consensual non-monogamy, on the other hand, is described as varying levels…

By Nikole Babcock and Shannon Snapp This piece is a part of our Spark series: Living an LGBTQIA2+ Life Our new research on LGBTQ+ young adults’ hookups illustrate how they can be purposeful, positive, and safe. Sexual health choices of LGBTQ+ young adults are often depicted as “risky” (i.e., HIV/…

By David B. Green Jr. This piece is a part of our Spark series: Living an LGBTQIA2+ Life In this piece, I contend that sissy sonics is a unique style of Black music that speaks to the beauty, power, and fierceness of Black queer and trans folx — especially those…

Introduction by Series Curator Amy J. Schulz, Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and University Diversity & Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan “Environmental racism is racial discrimination in environmental policymaking. It is racial discrimination in the enforcement of regulations and law. It is…