Dr. Axil Cricchio is an affiliate faculty member in the Interdisciplinary Studies Ph.D. program at the Union Institute and University, where he teaches rhetoric and writing courses, as well as interdisciplinary research courses. His education, background, and training include interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary degrees in the areas of psychology, the social and behavioral sciences, rhetoric, argumentation, writing, and LGBTQIA+ studies. He lives in Monterey, California, where he has been teaching critical thinking, writing, and communication across the disciplines, as well as psychology courses, at California State University, Monterey Bay, since 2001.

His teaching and research interests include the intersectionality of identity, ethnicity, queer politics, trans politics, and their interconnectivity to race, class, gender, and sexuality. He is particularly interested in how the language of social systems and cultural constructs shape the way we learn, embody, and perform gender presentation and gender roles as dominant aspects of our identity.

He is a community and social activist/advocate and actively participates in the pursuit of equality and equity for the LGBTQI+ community. He is currently writing a book documenting his own gender transition called, In the Middle of Me.