Biography
Tobias Wiggins (he/him) is an assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Athabasca University (AU). His research centers transgender mental health, queer and trans visual culture, clinical transphobia, accessible community-based wellness, and psychoanalysis. Broadly, Wiggins’ work aims to address the continued psychiatric pathologization of gender variance and to support the efficacy of trans-competent medical care. At AU, he coordinates the University Certificate in Counselling Women, an interdisciplinary program that applies contemporary feminist theory to the practice of counselling. His recent publications appear in the Transgender Studies Quarterly, Studies in Gender and Sexuality (forthcoming 2021), The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child (forthcoming 2021), and the anthology Sex, Sexuality and Trans Identities: Clinical Guidance for Psychotherapists and Counselors.
Wiggins is actively involved in the propagation of lively intersectional academic communities and regularly organizes scholarly events, while also attending conferences both locally and internationally. He is a co-director of AU’s Justice Webinar and Speaker Series (J-Series), bi-yearly research and presentation conference devoted to social justice, anti-oppression, transformative justice, restorative justice and equity. In 2017 he co-directed the inaugural Summer Institute for Sexuality Studies at York University.
Believing that the most efficacious research is grounded in community engagement, Wiggins has always been a strong organizer, counsellor, and advocate for anti-oppressive mental health care for marginalized people. He is a current member of the Alberta Trans Health Network, a collaborative group of healthcare providers, researchers, and community-based organizations interested in and actively working with Two-Spirit, trans, and non-binary health in Alberta. He has been a board member at JusticeTrans, he ran peer-to-peer support groups for trans men at the Sherbourne Health Centre, and he was also a long-time crisis line operator at the Trans Lifeline. Wiggins is also a certified yoga teacher, and he teaches accessible trauma-informed yoga to the 2SLGBTQ community.
Socials:
https://twitter.com/WigginsTobias
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobias-wiggins-539965148/
https://www.instagram.com/wiggins_tobias/