Dr. Tammy Rae Matthews, assistant professor in Sports Journalism & Digital Journalism, had two peer-reviewed presentations accepted at the Second International Trans Studies Conference held Sept. 4-7, 2024, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

The first paper, “Transnational and Transgender Feminism- Unpacking Sporting Dynamics in Namibia, Africa,” addresses the cross-section of athletes and gender identity.

This study analyzes how Namibian sports media either perpetuates exclusionary ideologies or promotes inclusivity. Drawing on over 35 hours of interviews with activists, athletes, journalists, and scholars from 2017 and 2021 fieldwork, it theorizes inclusive strategies rooted in oral histories and embodied knowledge. Intersectional feminist media frameworks reveal how vulnerable athletes risk being reduced to or rendered disposable. Integrating transgender theory and transfeminism challenges normative gender hierarchies and advances ethical media practices. Transnational feminist media ethics can thus disrupt marginalization, enabling equitable representation and transformative sports cultures.

The second paper, “Challenging Conventional Narratives: Transnational feminist media ethics and LGBTIQ+ activism in Namibia, Africa,” is in partnership with Prof. Anthony Brown, professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Research at UNISA. Through critical discourse analysis, this paper examines how Namibian queer communities and their opponents engaged online newspaper platforms to mobilize, disseminate narratives, implement safety strategies, and contest competing visions of national identity.