Ava L.J. Kim is a PhD Candidate in English at the University of Pennsylvania. They earned a BA in Creative Writing at Macalester College where they also worked as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and Frank Karel Fellow. Ava's current research interests include 20th and 21st century culture with a particular focus on trans aesthetics and anti-imperialism in literature, music, and film. 

Ava is a co-founder and co-coordinator of the Trans Literacy Project. They previously served as co-coordinator of the Gender and Sexuality Studies Reading Group (2017-2019), co-coordinator of the Queer Urgencies Conference (April 5-6, 2019), and SASgov (School of Arts and Sciences Government) Representative (2017-2018). 

2019-2020 Courses Offered: Making an Alien: American Immigration in the 20th Century (Fall 2019); Trans Method (Spring 2020)