Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸

@jessagoldberg

Abolitionist | anti-imperialist | academic PhD in American Literature Black Studies, Queer Studies, Carceral Studies they/she 🏳️‍⚧️ | my views, not employer's book:

2.074 Folgt2.838 Follower519 Posts

YouTube Bluesky

lesbian trans

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Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Jun 14

Hello from Albuquerque Pride.

A trans woman seen from behind carrying a banner in a pride parade with raised fist. They wear a sports bra and shorts with a keffiyeh and the words "Trans Dyke Against Zionism" written in marker on their back.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· May 11

What a wonderful graduation weekend at NMHU 💜 The class of 2026 is significant for me because it marks my fourth year at Highlands, making this kind of my "senior year" in relation to first-year students who began the same semester as me.

Five people standing in a row facing the camera. The three on the left are in purple academic I regalia, then there is a person in a white dress with purple and white accents, and the person on the right is in faculty regalia with a keffiyeh in the place of a PhD hood.

Two people in graduation regalia posing for a photo. On the left is a Master's student with an honors society stole and on the right is their faculty advisor in PhD regalia.

Two people in academic regalia pose with raised fists. The student on the left has flowers in his fist.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Jan 16

Taught my first week of classes and just submitted my tenure dossier. I would now like to sleep for 12 hours.

A transfemme person wearing a purple thigh-length dress with a gold zipper leans against a desk with two chalkboards meeting in the corner of a room behind them. They look directly at the camera, wearing glasses and a keffiyeh.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Jan 8

So MLA just gives platforms to Zionists who wrote about how the pro-Palestine movement is anti-Semitic, huh? Cool, cool. Anyway, some of us are gonna talk about BDS stuff in a roundtable at 12. I'll probably just yell & sound irritable but I am sure my colleagues will have very smart things to say.

Screenshot of info about a roundtable at 12:00pm at MLA in Toronto. Text:

"To protest the MLA’s suppression of Resolution 2025-1, participants discuss how to organize, teach, and research nineteenth-century American literary studies with a commitment to staying and fighting; a failed resolution is a lack of resolve."

Presider is Xine Yao. Speakers are Oliver Baker, Max Chapnick, Jess Goldberg, Alex Moskowitz, and Martha E. Schoolman

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Dec 30

Since finishing grad school and taking my first contingent 4/4 teaching job, December has consistently been my biggest writing time. It's nearly impossible for me to find time to write during the semester, so it happens during "breaks," and Dec/Jan has become my most productive research season.

A table in a coffee shop on top of which a laptop, printed articles, two stacks of books, and a latte in a tall mug are arranged.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Dec 29

I sighed. "I really do have trouble not being able to figure out if what you've painted is about to be day or night." Ruth rolled toward me [...] "It's not going to be day or night, Jess. It's always going to be that moment of infinite possibility that connects them." -Stone Butch Blues, ch 24

A landscape photo of a rural New Mexico sunset, the sky filled with colors ranging from blue to pink to orange to yellow.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Dec 16

A paragraph that reads:

An example of why my (and many, but just speaking for myself for now) criticism of and annoyance with liberals is not a "purity test" or a mere difference in emphasis or wording. Liberal analyses of things like trans rights or feminism or anti-racism or disability advocacy are analytically flawed in ways that limit the practical application of the liberal worldview. I don't disagree with liberals merely because I don't like how they word things or because "I allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good." Leftist versus liberal isn't a matter of *degree* but a matter of *kind.* I'm not "more liberal" than most Democrats; my analysis of the structures of violence that harm people in the world is fundamentally different than liberal analysis and therefore I come to different practical conclusions.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Dec 14

Grading while stuffing rage and fear about mass shootings into a compartmentalized box at the back of my brain

A blue and white coffee mug and saucer sit on a table at a coffee shop, a couch and tables in the background. There is also an open laptop with a blank grading rubric on the table next to the hot coffee.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Dec 10

Anniversary photo at work 🥰

A transfemme person sits on a concrete wall outside of a school building. Their legs are crossed in a red floral skirt and brown heeled boots. They are also wearing a denim button-down shirt and colorful printed blazer, a long rope necklace with a metallic heart basket, small dangling earrings, and glasses. They are holding a copy of the book "Abolition Time"

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Dec 7

Fresh haircut. My partner said "it's giving Alison Bechdel character I'd expect to see in profile in a Dykes to Watch Out For panel," which made my day

Jess seen from torso up, wearing a sweater over a green shirt, a rope necklace and silver necklace, and glasses. A wooden coat and hat rack is behind them.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 28

Rural New Mexico is beautiful

A landscape photo in which a large tree is to the right of the foreground, the sun peeking through the branches. The photo shows flat valley in the fore and middle ground and low mountains in the background.

A landscape photo showing trees and homes in a valley with mountains in the background. The sky behind the mountains is pink and blue with sunset colors.

An adobe silo on a ranch with trees in the foreground and mountains in the background. The sky is showing a range of pinks and oranges among the clouds at sunset.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 25

This year's American Studies Association conference was a joy! My first ASA was 2015, and ten years later I was a respondent on an "Author Meets Critics" session on my first book! I am so deeply thankful for my colleagues' thoughtful engagement, and energized by the ASA conference as a whole!

Five scholars seen standing against a Black backdrop in a convention center.
From left to right: Brigitte Nicole Fielder, Sasha Ann Panaram, Christopher Paul Harris, Jess A Goldberg, Marquis Bey, Almas Khan.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 19

And if you're at ASA, come join us at this 9:45am session on Thursday for a roundtable on my book!

A flyer with information for an "Author Meets Critics" panel at the 2025 American Studies Association conference. The book in focus is "Abolition Time: Grammars of Law, Poetics of Justice" by Jess A. Goldberg.

The flyer has headshots of the six participants:
Brigitte Fielder,
Marquis Bey,
Christopher Paul Harris,
Almas Khan,
Sasha Ann Panaram,
Jess A. Goldberg

The session will take place on Thursday Dec 20th from 9:45 to 11:15 AM in Salon A of Ballroom A in the Puerto Rico Convention Center.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 19

Start of a 17-hour travel day to Puerto Rico -- see you soon, ASA! (Hollar if you're there!) #2025ASA #ASA2025

Jess sits in an airport wearing an N95 mask and a keffiyeh

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 18

A student said I look "gothic" today. I was going for anarcho-socialist ❤️🖤😂

Jess standing in front of a chalkboard in a classroom wearing an ankle-length black skirt and red sweater blouse with a keffiyeh over their shoulders and two black necklaces.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 12

Unrelated but also I think my hair looked really good yesterday. Even though I am so clearly exhausted 😅

A selfie of Jess seated at their office desk.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 12

This text is definitely my "most frequently taught book" in my career, and it can be really challenging for students. I was proud of their engagement and close reading today, and extra satisfied that it came across in a Zoom class.

A copy of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs on a red notebook on a desk.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 4

My NY heart is sad I can't be voting for Mamdani today but I did vote in my local elections here in northern New Mexico!

Jess standing in front of a high school gymnasium building being used as a polling place on election day.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Nov 1

I have not reached at least six hours of sleep once in the last ten days and I'm stressed as hell but I'm feeling prettier and more trans every day so there's that

Jess smiles into the camera with a bush and sky behind them. They are wearing glasses and dangling pink crystal earrings.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Oct 23

Good morning, #asap16 @asapartsnow.bsky.social

Jess in a blue dress, pink blazer, and keffiyeh taking a selfie on a side street with a large hospital building in the background

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Oct 22

Heading to Houston for #ASAP16 ✈️ I'm not staying for the whole weekend so let me know if you are there! (Is ASAP on Bluesky?)

Jess wearing a mask and keffiyeh in an airplane seat.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Oct 12

Felt pretty. Won't delete. (I am incredibly bad at putting on and removing earrings lol need practice!)

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Oct 6

Got some pictures from my local coffee shop book talk from one of the attendees. I enjoyed reading from "Abolition Time" and talking with folks about art & social justice. And it was really well attended for a small town in the northern New Mexico mountains! @uminnpress.bsky.social

Jess stands at a microphone at the back of a coffee shop reading from their book "Abolition Time" as people seated at tables listen.

Jess is seen standing and gesturing in mid-sentence at a book talk on a small coffee shop. They are wearing a pink dress, black boots, and a keffiyeh.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Oct 2

I've been teaching "anti-American" content that could be construed as "extremism on race/gender/migration" for my entire career and have gotten in trouble for it before. It's weird now that when I walk in the room as trans I'm embodying "extremism on gender." But I will never stop teaching what I do

The phrase "We didn't cross the border; the border crossed us" written in chalk on a green chalkboard.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Sep 12

New faculty page headshot is up and for the first time in my career the photo makes me smile more than the text. What a wonder of a cocktail of makeup, a new haircut, and hormones is for gender dysphoria.

A screenshot of a faculty page with the following text:
Jess A. Goldberg
Assistant Professor of English, Undergraduate Studies Coordinator for English, Co-Director of Gender & Women’s Studies
Ph.D. Cornell University, 2018
jagoldberg@nmhu.edu
505-454-3329
Pronouns: they/them

Teaching and research interests include American literature, abolitionist thought, Black studies, carceral studies (prisons, policing, and criminalization), gender studies (especially queer and feminist theory), critical race theory and ethnic studies (with a focus on white supremacy), legal humanities, environmental humanities, settler colonialism, and racial capitalism.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Sep 2

I love this new haircut I have NEVER IN MY LIFE been happy with how my own face looks in the way that I am now

Jess seen from the lower torso up, seated in an office chair, smiling with a bookshelf behind them. They are wearing round glasses, stud earrings, a floral blouse, a red sweater, and two necklaces.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Aug 30

My health insurance is dropping gender affirming care coverage for both children AND adults soon because the US government thinks trans people shouldn't exist, BUT I just got huge gender euphoria from this haircut so THERE ☺️

A photo of Jess from the mid-torso up. They are wearing a black anti-fascist t-shirt and glasses and are smiling because of their new haircut.

Jess facing the camera and smiling as they grab their glasses with one hand, the other on their hip. They are wearing a black anti-fascist t-shirt and a plaid shirt and are happily showing off their new haircut.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Aug 6

As we approach a new academic year, I'd like to humbly ask you to consider teaching from my new book *Abolition Time: Grammars of Law, Poetics of Justice,* published by the University of Minnesota Press in December 2024.

A copy of the book "Abolition Time: Grammars of Law, Poetics of Justice" is shown propped up on a ledge against a background of trees and greenery.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Aug 3

Felt very pretty this weekend while taking a couple of days fully away from work and organizing. One of my partners and I had a lovely weekend date. A lovely #t4t relationship dynamic is how they help me think through how both non-binary and trans-femme feel right to me and what that means.

Jess leans against railing on a rooftop with the Santa Fe skyline and a sunset behind them. They are wearing a form-fitting sleeveless black top and a loose blue and white vertical striped ankle length skirt with a slit up the front to just above the knee and open-toed wedge heels.

Jess A. Goldberg 🇵🇸@jessagoldberg· Jul 8

hi I am 35 years old and only now discovering that I can wear multiple necklaces of different lengths to style a look. Please forgive me I am late to my own personal aesthetic 😅 🏳️‍⚧️