[ID: Jo, a nonbinary Taiwanese American person, in a Black t-shirt and blue pants, seated on a metal staircase.] Photo Credit: Krystal Ruiz

[ID: Jo, a queer, trans nonbinary disabled Taiwanese American person, in a Black t-shirt and blue pants, seated on a metal staircase.]

Photo Credit: Krystal Ruiz

[ID: A dark blue/black backdrop of rippled water, reflecting a starry sky. From the top left corner to the bottom right, the stars grow gradually brighter. On the foreground, in white and orange text: Constellating Home: Trans and Queer Asian American Rhetorics, V. Jo Hsu. Design by Nathan Putens]

ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING TRANS FOLKS IN TEXAS:

Community Resource Guide prioritizing QTBIPOC in Austin/Central Texas, made by Rocky Lane: https://projectliferaft.carrd.co/

Vox Jo Hsu, MFA, PhD

(They/Them/Theirs)

Welcome! I am an associate professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Writing and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. My research examines how stories shape our lived realities— for example, how narratives underlie medical diagnoses or how patient activists utilize story to expand existing knowledge. My current research examines the politicization of medical diagnoses such as "gender dysphoria," and "chronic fatigue syndrome." I also often write and speak on anti-trans politics, chronic illness, race and racism, and narrative strategy.

The questions driving my work are: What can the field(s) of rhetoric do to foster connection and care across difference? And, what stories must we tell to dismantle and remake worlds conducive to one another’s thriving? 

My writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Boston Globe, The Progressive, and many other news media, literary, and academic outlets. You can find my publications using the navigation bar above.  

I’m the author of Constellating Home: Trans and Queer Asian American Rhetorics, winner of the 2024 Book Award from the Rhetoric Society of America, the 2023 Diamond Anniversary Book Award from the National Communication Association, the 2023 Innovations in Community Writing Book Award from the Conference on Community Writing, and the Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award from the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition. I also received the 2023 Rhetoric Society of America Fellows’ Early Career Award and the 2023 Leadership Award for People with Disabilities from the National Councils of Teachers of English.

For those without library access, I have uploaded most of my research to my academia.edu page. If you cannot find something, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

***Please excuse the dust as I work to update this page!

**** If any elements of this page are difficult for you to access, please contact me at vjohsu@austin.utexas.edu