Wellness-Territorio: A Decolonial Feminist Geographical Method for the Study of Trans* Student World-Making
This presentation delves into the intersections of critical geography, decolonial thought, and trans identities. I examine how a group of trans* Latinx students in an urban public university challenge and redefine trans health and wellness in response to university trans care services. This exploration reveals how spaces of belonging, both physical and conceptual, are navigated and transformed in the pursuit of epistemic justice, community building, and resistance against colonial logics embedded in university programs. Focusing on the notions of 'land as body' and intersubjective relationality, the presentation demonstrates how critical geography provides a unique perspective in understanding the spatial and relational aspects of decolonial, trans* students world-making. It highlights how these practices reimagine wellness beyond Western-centric approaches, integrating ancestral wisdom, land stewardship, and collective resistance to hegemonic trans knowledge producing relationships to land as a determinant and central dimension to trans-Latinx student wellness & belonging. This discussion contributes to a broader understanding of how land-based perspectives on wellness intersects with decolonial and trans studies to foster more inclusive and equitable student spaces.
-------
Dr. Omi Salas-SantaCruz is the inaugural President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Trans Studies at Penn State University in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. They earned their PhD in education with a designated emphasis in critical theory and gender, women, and sexuality from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in sociology from Columbia University. Their research examines questions at the intersections of coloniality, race, Latinidad, trans inclusion, and practices of being.