Erin Ramsay

Erin is researching the history of nonbinary and gender nonconforming people in Aotearoa using oral history.

Qualifications

MA in History with Distinction, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2023

BA(Hons) in History, University of Auckland, 2020

BA/Bsc, University of Auckland, 2019

Profile

I pursued my undergraduate and Honours study at the University of Auckland. In my Honours year, I wrote my dissertation on narrative differences between mid-twentieth century transsexual autobiography and turn of the twenty-first century transgender autobiography. My interests in language, narrative and identity led me to pursue a Masters in History here at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. I am in the process of writing a thesis on the history of nonbinary and gender nonconforming people in Aotearoa using oral history interviews with queer adults and elders as my primary source base. As a queer and nonbinary person myself, I am deeply invested in the shifts in language and ideas that queer and trans people use to articulate their identities. Outside of academic work, I write poetry and personal essays and have an interest in climate activism.

Supervisors

Publications

‘From “born into the wrong body” to “a kaleidoscope that I spin and spin and spin”: reflections on historical differences in trans autobiography informed by American discourses’, Australasian Journal of American Studies, forthcoming.