Interview: Trans Day of Visibility, 2026
Adam Kaylor and Kieran talked with Atlanta News First about transgender community and the work of Trans Joy.
Open source...Rhetoric / technology / institutional power
Kieran Andrew James Helbling
Research, writing, and public-facing projects on mediated systems, authority, legibility, exclusion, and the productive trouble of ideas still in progress.
00 / About
Research that follows breakdown, mediation, and power.
I am a PhD student at Clemson University and a researcher working at the intersection of rhetoric, technology, and institutional power. My work examines how authority, legibility, and exclusion are produced through mediated systems such as platforms, policies, visual conventions, and algorithmic infrastructures, with particular attention to moments of failure and breakdown.
With a BA in Urban Studies from San Diego State University and an MBA from The Pennsylvania State University, I bring more than 26 years of management experience and a professional background in the technology industry to my research.
I am also a co-founder of Trans Joy, a nonprofit organization centered on amplifying trans joy, care, and community knowledge through media and public storytelling.
01 / Portfolio
The main doors into the work.
These are the same core areas from the current site, reorganized as a more exploratory archive.
02 / Work Archive
Writing, research, media, and samples
Filter the existing work by category or search across titles and descriptions.
Sample Work: Keyword Essay - Fantasy
A Raymond Williams-inspired keyword essay analyzing fantasy as historically layered, contested, and rhetorically mobile.
Open source...
Sample Work: Reframing Photography as Political Relation
A reading report on Ariella Azoulay's The Civil Contract of Photography, centered on visual theory and political obligation.
Open source...
Learning is Often Discomfort
A reflection on the physical and intellectual strain of learning, written through an encounter with Kenneth Burke.
Open source...
Music Composition
Electronic music and creative practice alongside woodworking, drawing, and other forms of making as process-based thinking.
Open source...
2025 Transgender Social Media Safety Report
A visual research report comparing platform policy commitments with observable moderation practices across 15 social media platforms.
Open source...
Work in Progress: Synthetic Sophists and the Predictive Situation
A working manuscript bringing rhetorical theory, critical technology studies, and trans studies into conversation around algorithmic systems.
Open source...
In Consideration of Mediation as the Sixth Rhetorical Canon
A first-pass theoretical project mapping mediation across rhetoric, philosophy, media theory, and cultural studies.
Open source...
Sample Work: Reading Engagement Presentation
A seminar presentation on Boyle, Brown, and Ceraso's account of the digital as ambient, multisensory, and infrastructural.
Open source...Sample Work: Educational Video
A short lesson video offering rhetorical analysis of a Sarah McBride political speech through ethos, pathos, and logos.
Open source...03 / Podcast
Podcasting as public inquiry.
The current site has a dedicated Podcast page. In this design, podcasting sits beside the research archive rather than outside it: conversation becomes one of the methods for thinking publicly.
Existing Page
Podcast
Use this area for the show description, episode list, embedded players, transcripts, or links to listening platforms.
Open current page...04 / Public Work
Trans Joy and community storytelling.
Trans Joy is centered on amplifying trans joy, care, and community knowledge through media and public storytelling. This work connects directly to questions of vulnerability, legitimacy, voice, and alternative rhetorical spaces.
Non-Profit
Trans Joy
Keep this as a bridge to the nonprofit site, press, media, and collaborative public-facing work.
Visit Trans Joy...05 / Form Project
Form Project
Your current navigation includes a protected or separate Form Project. I kept it visible as a major workstream so it does not get buried inside the archive.
Project Space
Structured research instrument
This can become a page for the project statement, prototype screenshots, methodology, and access instructions.
Open local prototype...06 / Contact