About
Julian is originally from Memphis, TN and received his B.A. from the University of Memphis in December 2019, with majors in Philosophy, English, and French. He is a PhD Candidate in Philosophy and 2024 Graduate Fellow at Michigan's Sweetland Center for Writing.
Julian's research is at the intersection of contemporary social/political philosophy, philosophy of literature, and trans studies. In particular, his dissertation project articulates a concept of trans utopianism by drawing on a range of queer and trans art and literature, including film and documentary about Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera and the recent speculative novels Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg (2018) and Future Feeling by Joss Lake (2021). Julian argues that, in addition to being a literary phenomenon and tool for contemporary activism and political organizing, trans utopianism can be employed when reading historical texts which are not typically understood as trans, as a way of identifying resources in the past to imagine a more liberatory future.
You can find more about Julian's research, teaching, and writing at www.julianrome.com.
