Meet TJ Billard

Doctoral student TJ Billard
Doctoral student TJ Billard

Name: Thomas J. Billard, aka TJ

Year: Second

Hometown: Vienna, Austria

Undergraduate Institution: The George Washington University

Research Area: Political Communication

Journal Articles:

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Fonts of Potential: Areas for Typographic Research in Political Communication.” International Journal of Communication 10: 4193–4218.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Writing in the Margins: Mainstream News Media Representations of Transgenderism.” International Journal of Communication 10.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. Review of Transgender Communication Studies: Histories, Trends, and Trajectories, edited by Leland G. Spencer and Jamie C. Capuzza. Journal of Communication 66 (2): E11-E13. doi:10.1111/jcom.12224

Book Chapters:

Billard, Thomas J. Forthcoming. “‘Passing’ and the Politics of Deception: Transgender Bodies, Cisgender Aesthetics, and the Policing of Inconspicuous Marginal Identities.” In The Handbook of Deceptive Communication, edited by Tony Docan-Morgan. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Billard, Thomas J, and Brian L. MacAuley. Forthcoming. “‘It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Transgender Superhero!’ Transgender Characters in Marvel, DC, and Image Comics.” In Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children’s Entertainment Media, edited by CarrieLynn D. Reinhard and Christopher J. Olson. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Conference Papers:

Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Branding Murder: The Ambivalent Participatory Politics of Transgender Day of Remembrance.” Paper presented at the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 24-26.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “The Evolution of Transgender Women in Mainstream Comics.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Women’s Studies Association, Montréal, Canada, November 10-13.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Ambivalent Identities in Transgender Political Advocacy.” Paper presented at the 1st annual Trans*Studies Conference, Tucson, Arizona, September 7-10.

Billard, Thomas J, and Ruthie R. Kelly. 2016. “Designed to Win: The Visual Identities of American Presidential Candidates.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 1-4.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Constructing Transgender Identity in Restroom-Related Policy Debates.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 1-4.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “The Transgender Body as Artistic Creation: Journalists’ Aesthetic Evaluations of Transgender Identity.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan, June 9-13.

Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “In a Wibbly-Wobbly Time and Place: Queer Temporality in the BBC’s Doctor Who.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Seattle, Washington, March 22-25.

Student Research Groups: Civic Paths/MAPP

Website/Twitter: www.thomasjbillard.com / @ThomasJBillard

Favorite thing about USC Annenberg: My favorite thing about Annenberg has to be the support and the sense of community I experience. This comes from both faculty and colleagues. The faculty have taken a serious interest in my work and have encouraged me to pursue my research in new and exciting ways. And my fellow doctoral students have become frequent collaborators, helpful critics, and close personal friends.