Road Trip: DisTHIS, New York!

[Image description: Sitting casually in director's chairs in front of the screen in the Firehouse's third floor screening room, are Mat Fraser and Lawrence Carter Long. Sitting between them in her own wheelchair is Liz Carr.]

Melania Moscoso and Mike Dorn traveled up to New York last Wednesday to check out the disTHIS! 2nd Anniversary Criptastic Celebration. The evening included a little bit for everyone, including some salacious film shorts (featuring special guests Mat Frazer and Liz Carr from the BBC Ouch! Podcast) and the East Coast debut of Bård Breien's "The Art of Negative Thinking." The Norwegian director's feature film debut is the story of Geirr, his girlfriend Ingvild, and their encounter with the "municipal positivity group" [must be a Norwegian thing!] Geirr has remained reclusive and bitter since his accident, turning to his heavy metal music for relief, and Ingvild is willing to try anything to break him out of his despond. But as it turns out, the positivity group and their leader have their own issues to work through. And Geirr is just the one to help them learn the negative arts.

Lawrence Carter Long organizes the events for the Disabilities Network of NYC and takes particular care - reviewing new film for works of interest. The audience has come to expect works that work creatively against the standard conventions of disability in film. Even works deriving inspiration from the "freak show" canon are considered, as long as they work to reinvent this time-tested genre. International films that lend insight into contrasting cultural frameworks (such as the Spanish films that Melania has been reviewing) are also very popular. We can't wait to see what Lawrence selects for this coming Halloween!

[Image description: Melania and another audience member listening in on the post-screening discussion.]

It was an easy and fun trip. Several busses a day run between between Philadelphia and New York. Over the years I've taken one of the various "Chinatown buses" several times, picking it up at the Greyhound bus terminal near the Convention Center in Philadelphia, and catching the return bus from the north side of the Manhattan Bridge abutment. But today Melania and I checked out a new alternative, the cheaper and more relaxing and accessible Bolt Bus, that leaves from 30th Street between Walnut and Market in West Philadelphia, and delivers the traveler at 6th Street between Canal and Grand in Soho. Arriving early (due to the Bolt Bus's limited schedule) we had a chance to check out some of the local sights, including the beautiful and fully accessible Mulberry Street Branch Library (another view) at 10 Jersey Street [Between Lafayette & Mulberry Streets].

Visit their website to learn more about the disTHIS! Film Series and plan your next trip to New York. Sign up on Yahoo for regular email updates, or "friend" them in MySpace. There are some exciting events being planned in conjunction with the upcoming meeting of the Society for Disability Studies, June 18 - 21 at Baruch College, the City University of New York, so stay tuned!

RIP: Harlan Hahn (1939-2008)

Just saw the news that Harlan Hahn, a political science professor formerly at USC, a disability rights activist, and an important figure in the founding and development of disability studies in policy research, has died at the age of 68. Some of Harlan Hahn's online writings:

"Toward a Politics of Disability: Definitions, Disciplines, and Policies"
"Good Jobs, Good Benefits (but not for disabled workers)" at Ragged Edge (2006)
"Love, Sex, and Disability: Maintaining Interest and Intimacy" (transcript of a conference appearance with Sharon Bacharach)

ADDED LATER: Beth Haller has this remembrance.

Temple U. Fall '08 Disability Studies

I want to draw to your attention two graduate courses that are going to be offered at Temple University, Philadelphia, in Fall 2008

Mike Dorn [email] will be the lead faculty for the new course Disability Studies 5405: Disability Studies in the Humanities [PDF]. Drawing on the rich oral history, media, literary, and archival resources available in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, this class will help students to explore a variety of historical and contemporary sites. Trained as a cultural geographer, Dr. Dorn’s own research focuses on historical patterns of oppression and liberation as well as the role that disability ascriptions play in the bounding of the ‘normal.’ Although he draws on international intellectual currents and aesthetics, Mike is particularly interested in their cultural expression in the MidAtlantic and the Midwest.
Fall 2008, Monday evenings, from 5:00 to 7:30 pm

Disability Studies 5401: Disability Rights and Culture will be taught by my colleague, disability scholar and activist Carol Marfisi [email]. Drawing on her background in psychology, Carol explores the phenomenological experience of disability and for the historical formation of movements for disability rights. Course topics include eugenics, the parents movement, the developmental disability and independent living movements, assistive technology, sexuality and relationships, and disability culture.
Fall 2008, Thursday evenings, from 5:00 to 7:30 pm

Whichever course one takes, students leave better equipped to act thoughtfully and effectively in the present, to fight for change in their families, communities and societies. Don't hesitate to call or email if you would like to receive more information on these classes and how to enroll.

Penny and Mike speak!

If you get this in time, Penny Richards and I are going to be featured on the Independence Journal radio show this evening, Thursday April 24th at 7:30pm EDT. The subject of the interview is "Disability Blogging." The show is streamed online at the SUNY New Paltz student radio station, The EDGE - http://www.wfnp.org

Click on the address above. Then click on the HOME tab on the top left of the page. Then click on, Webcasting NOW!>> on the right side of the page. Looking forward to your comments.

Leadership Transition at the Institute on Disabilities [II of II]

In a pair of articles, the Temple Times honors Diane Bryen for her 17 years at the helm of the Institute on Disabilities, and introduces the new executive director, well-known disability studies scholar and filmmaker David Mitchell.

Shattering the “glass staircase”
David Mitchell, the new executive director of the Institute on Disabilities, wants to make the academy more accessible.

Monday, March 31, 2008

CONTACT: Denise Clay 215-204-6522

Currently, if you’re interested in pursuing a doctorate in Disability Studies, there are only two places you can go: the University of Illinois-Chicago and the University of Leeds in Leeds, England.

David Mitchell, the new executive director of Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities, hopes to change that by making Temple an option for those in the Delaware Valley who want to earn their Ph.D. without having to go to Chicago or leave the country.

Mitchell, who served as the first permanent director of the PhD in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago, has made one of his goals expanding Temple’s Disability Studies program from its current status as a place where you can get a certificate to one where you can get a degree, he said. [Addendum: Dr. Mitchell stepped down from the director position at UIC in 2004 and since then the position has been held by Dr. Carol Gill.]

Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
David T. Mitchell, the new executive director of the Institute on Disabilities, hopes to further raise the profile of disability studies at Temple.

____________________________________

Related Stories:
Diane Bryen is stepping down from Institute, not Disability Studies

Disability Arts and Culture Center at Access Living, Chicago

Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies at Temple University

“The goal is to grow Disability Studies at Temple into the most significant and influential home for Disability Studies in the United States,” Mitchell said.

Doing that will require a holistic approach, says Mitchell, who has written books on people with disabilities and their place within the humanities. While Temple is a more accessible campus to people with disabilities than most, a sea change is necessary for the academy overall, Mitchell said.

“Universities have been a ‘glass staircase,’” he said, referring to the lack of research and academic work that has been done on people with disabilities and the challenges they face. “Disability studies was created to infuse universities with opportunities for people with disabilities and to bring to them the realization that we all share a public space.”

The creation of Institutes on Disabilities like the one at Temple has helped make this public space available to people regardless of their physical abilities. Mitchell praised his predecessor, Diane Bryen, for making the institute what it is today, adding that he doesn’t see it changing much. Bryen, who was one of the first wave of disability activists who ran these institutes, is retiring this year.

Mitchell has done much of his work with his wife, Sharon Snyder, who is on the faculty of the University of Illinois-Chicago. He has two children, Cameron, 16, and Emma, 12.

Mitchell officially becomes the executive director of the Institute on Disabilities July 1.

For additional coverage, see Beth Haller's post at media dis&dat

Leadership Transition at the Institute on Disabilities [I of II]

In a pair of articles, the Temple Times honors Diane Bryen for her 17 years at the helm of the Institute on Disabilities, and introduces the new executive director, well-known disability studies scholar and filmmaker David Mitchell.

Changing uniforms:

While Diane Nelson Bryen is stepping down as executive director of the Institute on Disabilities, she won’t stop fighting for full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society.

Monday, March 31, 2008

CONTACT: Denise Clay 215-204-6522

Diane Nelson Bryen’s office in the Institute on Disabilities is a showcase of what she’s been able to accomplish with and for men and women with disabilities.

There are things that represent the places in which she’s taken the ACES (Augmentative Communication and Empowerment Support) program, such as Australia, India, South Africa, and Israel. There are awards from the various agencies for people with disabilities that she’s helped.
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And there are lots of pictures — pictures of smiling young men and women who are leading lives that their disabilities might have prevented them from living years ago.

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Through those pictures, Bryen gets the chance to see the fruits of her hands-on approach to working with children and adults with a wide variety of disabilities. As someone who has a brother with a disability, she sees just how important this work is.

Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Diane Bryen, the outgoing executive director of the Institute on Disabilities talks with David T. Mitchell, the new director of the center. Bryen is retiring from the post she has held since 1991.

_________________________________
Related Stories:
David Mitchell to head Institute on Disabilities
Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies at Temple University

“I have always liked having my hand in the field,” said Bryen, who started her career at Temple as a special education professor. “This center serves multiple functions. We work with the community and we work with families and people with disabilities. We work with policymakers to change the system. We also do university-based research and teaching.”

And although she’ll be stepping down as executive director of the Institute on Disabilities in June, Bryen plans to keep working toward making things more equitable for people with disabilities.
Bryen came to Temple in 1964 as a student, eventually graduating with a masters degree in special education and a Ph.D. in educational psychology.

She started her teaching career at Temple in 1973 as a special education faculty member. While she had always had interaction with the Institute on Disabilities, it wasn’t until 1991 that Bryen was asked to lead the organization.

Under Bryen’s leadership, the Institute on Disabilities has achieved much. It has formed partnerships across the state to help provide people with such things as microwave ovens for the blind and high-tech computers that give those who have never spoken before the chance to communicate with loved ones.

One of the ways that those computers are being put to use is through the ACOLUG (Augmentative Communication Online Users Group), a listserv designed to provide an international forum for those with significant communication disabilities. The listserv currently has about 650 users, Bryen said.

But one of the institute’s most important achievements under Bryen’s watch is a greater awareness across the university of what disability is and isn’t, Bryen said.
“We’re changing the way that students at Temple are learning about disability,” she said. "Disability is a form of diversity. People with disabilities aren’t broken and need to be fixed. Instead, people with disabilities should be seen as a minority group and afforded equal protections, she added.

That’s something that C. Kent McGuire, dean of the College of Education, has come to know during his five years at the college’s helm. He has come to see Bryen as a tireless advocate for not only the people helped by the institute, but also for students interested in pursuing disability studies.

“I would describe her as passionate,” he said. “She’s committed to equality and social justice and is a very effective advocate for the disability community. She’s respected for that not only in Pennsylvania, but across the country. She’s also been a consistent supporter of Temple University students. Her presence and energy will be missed.”

Although she won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Institute on Disabilities, Bryen, a Fulbright scholar and winner of the Lindback and Great Teacher awards, plans to remain involved.

“I’ve been at Temple since 1964 and have three degrees from here,” she said. “It’s hard for me to totally disengage from here. I wouldn’t have gone to college without Temple. Temple, like the institute, is a wonderful place that attempts to level the playing field recognizing that knowledge is power.”

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For additional coverage, see Beth Haller's post at media dis&dat

Public Lecture in New York, April 10, 2008

Meet Mike Dorn and Melania Moscoso of DS,TU at the public lecture in Disability Studies.
Rsemarie Garland-Thomson will be speaking on"The Politics of Picturing Disability" at the City University of New York , Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue , New York City, Room C204/205
Thursday, April 10, 6:30 pm
For more information on this event, contact: Osmin Sullivan - Hewitt, 646-344-7313.

The Unruly Salon Series, Vancouver, Spring 2008

This looks like a spectacular series. Registration is now open; they're also looking for local volunteers to help with set-up and such. Here (below) is the homepage blurb, but go check out the individual events scheduled--a nice mix of performing and visual arts, scholarship and storytelling formats, with a wide range of topics.

The Unruly Salon Series Presented by Green College at UBC January 12-March 29th, 2008

Join The Unruly Salon to further the discourse on diversity, humanity and civil society; contribute to a fundamental reshaping of the disability narrative; challenge ideas of ‘global citizenship’; and work to realize the full inclusion of all people.

In the context of a burgeoning disability arts and cultural movement in Canada and internationally, the Unruly Salon Series is an historical first at UBC. Drawing from both internationally renowned scholars of disability studies and professional artists from the visual, performing, musical arts’ sectors, the Salons will demonstrate a belief that the pursuit of equality and inclusion is a cultural task as much as it is an academic or political one.

Salon scholars and artists variously ask:

• How do varied experiences of dis/ability transform and vitalize the meaning of an education, the public sphere and social justice?
• How can disability arts, culture and struggles by people with disabilities transform and inform undergraduate and graduate education at UBC and in the wider province, Pacific Rim and internationally?
• What can we all learn from artists and scholars with disabilities currently participating in disability scholarship and the arts locally and globally.

The Series is the inspired creation of Dr. Leslie G. Roman, Associate Professor, Dept. of Educational Studies at the UBC Faculty of Education, in partnership with Mr. Geoff McMurchy, visionary artistic director of S4DAC (The Society for Disability Arts and Culture) and Artistic Director for The Unruly Salon Series.

CFP: Nineteenth-Century UK, Gender and Disability

Another cool call for papers:

CALL FOR PAPERS
NINETEENTH-CENTURY GENDER STUDIES
SUMMER 2008
SUBMISSION DATE: March 1, 2008

Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies is a peer-reviewed, online journal committed to publishing insightful and innovative scholarship on gender studies and nineteenth-century British literature, art and culture. The journal is a collaborative effort that brings together advanced graduate students and scholars from a variety of universities to create a unique voice in the field. We endorse a broad definition of gender studies and welcome submissions that consider gender and sexuality in conjunction with race, class, place and nationality.

NCGS is preparing to launch a special guest-edited issue in Summer 2008 that would read nineteenth-century texts within a disability studies/queer studies/gender studies framework. The issue will engage and answer these and other questions: how do issues of the disabled body and the gendered body parallel each other, or collapse into one another? What are the implications of disability in the construction and practice of femininity in nineteenth-century culture? What are the implications of disability in the construction and practice of masculinity in nineteenth-century culture? How do images and metaphors of physical difference work, with gender, into the forms of nineteenth-century literature and culture? What are the connections between gender, ability/disability, and work in the nineteenth century? What are the theoretical implications of prosthetics in writing/understanding nineteenth-century culture? What are the implications of bodily performance in general in the nineteenth century? Is gender transformation also one of the potentialities we might find in Victorian lit/cultural artifacts on disability? What is the significance, in the investigation of nineteenth-century texts, of queering disability and disability studies? How are both same-gender and heterosexual relationships catalyzed by disability in nineteenth-century plot structures? How are identities of able-bodiedness and heterosexuality connected? How do certain texts in the nineteenth century attempt to transform systems of embodiment?

Please submit essays by March 1 to either

Mark Mossman, Associate Professor
English Department
Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL 61455
USA
or,

Martha Stoddard-Holmes, Associate Professor
Department of Literature and Writing Studies
California State University-San Marcos
San Marcos, CA 92096
USA

Only electronic submissions will be considered.

Checking in from SDS, Day 2

Hello from the lobby of the Sea-Tac Hilton, on day 2 of the 20th anniversary meeting of the Society for Disability Studies. The session I mentioned heading to last entry turned out to be a Deaf history panel, and it was really great to see a set of young scholars (Sara Robinson, Lindsey Parker, and Elizabeth Bush) digging into some issues of community, age, gender, space, and identity in contexts like a "home for the elderly and infirm deaf" in the mid-20th century, or among the first women to graduate from Gallaudet, or in national Deaf empowerment organizations (where the women were, initially, barred from membership, but more than welcome to form fund-raising auxiliaries). And as if those papers weren't enough, Susan Burch gave a fourth presentation about her soon-to-be-published work on Junius Wilson--a life story that complicates a lot of the givens about D/deaf cultural history. So that was cool.

This morning I made it to the plenary, on "The Future of Disability Arts." Very disappointed to find that a favorite dancer-blogger couldn't make it as scheduled, but her paper was still presented, and very cool. Petra Kuppers ended her portion of the program on a slide that read, "We do not need positive images. We need depth, and heft, and presence." Right on. Kanta Kochhar-Lindgren and Jim Ferris were the other presenters--I'm not going to quote you some of the stronger language in Ferris' manifesto, but it was all arresting and powerful.

Had some local friends to hang out with this afternoon, but soon I'll be covering the Disability History Association booth at the poster session and reception. Again, sorry no links, I'm really just tapping this in on the run. I'll add them in later, as opportunity permits.

Quick check in from SDS, Day 1

So I'm in the lobby at the airport Hilton in Seattle, catching a few minutes of internet access to check in from the 20th meeting of the Society for Disability Studies, which started today and runs through Saturday night. I gave my presentation this morning (on a panel about "global disability," which was a stretch for this US historian, but I think it turned out fine). Next stop was a fine panel of philosophers speaking on personhood, dignity, and justice for people with "severe mental retardation" (and they were careful to assure us that they understood the problems with the term and the diagnosis, but that they would be using it in part to confront all that). I'm usually wary of philosophy panels (just don't have a theory brain, myself)--but Licia Carlson, Sophia Wong, and Anna Stubblefield all gave talks that were engaging and very grounded. After lunch, I took a bus over to the University of Washington campus to see a performance by the wondrous collaborative effort that is the Anarcha Project--I didn't realize I'd be seeing the culmination of the last of their workshops in this format, so that was bittersweet, but very worthwhile.

Now I'm waiting for the 5:15 sessions to start--I'm planning to attend the one titled "'Minority Identities Under Construction': Intersections of Gender, Disability, and the Public Sphere." More tomorrow!

(And I'll add in some links for this entry when I get a chance.)

February 22-23: Accessing Alliances

Coming up this week, a conference at George Washington University's Marvin Center called Accessing Alliances: Disability Studies Across the Curriculum, sponsored in part by AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability; conference poster at right). Thursday evening is a mini-film festival of shorts, presented by Sharon Snyder and David Mitchell; the Friday morning keynote is by Rosemarie Garland Thomson. Concurrent sessions cover "Disability Studies and History," "Disability Studies and Education," "Building a Disability Studies Major/Minor," "Disability Studies and Deaf Studies," "Disability Studies and Ethnic Studies," "Disability Studies and Global Studies." Seems like a great one-stop opportunity for East Coasters to check out where disability studies is right now, and where it might be heading soon. (Especially since SDS is on the West Coast this year. Yeah!)

Auspicious Developments

Just reading of the "blogging news" can consume your life. But one of the bytes that penetrated my consciousness over holiday break was the prognostication that we have now hit a stabilization point for blogging. The point had been reached where the number of time-tested blogs fading out roughly equalled the number of blogs making their debut.

When Disability Studies, Temple University made its debut nearly 2 and 3/4 years ago with this humble post, blogging just beginning to hit the big time, and a number of educators in disparate fields, but particularly in literary fields such as English, where turning to blogs as a way to reach a broader audience and to facilitate group work. Blogs chronicling the disability experience, let along the field of disability studies, were in their infancy. Much of the interchange in the field of Disability Studies took place through the medium of listserves. A tremendous amount of energy continues to be devoted to discussion on listserves such as Disability-Research out of Leeds, and DS-HUM (Disability Studies in the Humanities) and SDS (open to members of the Society for Disability Studies) in the United States, that operate as members-only clubs. The content of these often exciting and useful exchanges is lost to the much broader community of non-subscribing Disability Studies acolytes. In my own modest way, I set out to change that.

Perhaps the credit for getting DS,TU off the ground should go to Lydia Fecteau, an adjuct faculty member at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey : she created an excellent blog for her Disability and Literature course that is still in our blogroll, and shared the interesting blogs created by students at her school. Or perhaps credit should go to a reference librarian here at Temple University, Brian Schoolar, who started posting his news to a page directed at faculty in the College of Education. Brian gave me a lot of useful tips in the early days, and we conducted an initial training, "Introduction to Weblogs and Blogging," for faculty, staff and students in the College of Education. Brian eventually discontinued the College of Education blog: I think he found his efforts to be a little bit premature, since faculty in our college were still largely unaware of blogs, and certainly did not subscribe to RSS readers.

Of course, the entire tone and feel of the blog changed soon after Penny Richards submitted her first post [Saturday, Apr 16, 2005] and we got serious. Keep posted - we look forward to celebrating our 'anniversaries' later in the spring.

What triggers these reflections? In this month's Disability Blog Carnival #7, Penny notes several comrades including Gimpy Mumpy who have set their keyboards aside and directed their energies otherwise. And now word emerges that one of the post prolific bloggers of the past three years, Michael Berube, is following suit. His blog archives will remain, but active blogging ceased as of Tue, Jan 9 2007. Fittingly enough, given the critical political tenor of many of his posts, Michael signing off with a YouTube with the famous atomic bomb finale from Dr. Strangelove, under the moniker "I told you it was going to happen."

Don't worry - we don't show any signs of flagging yet.

Ashley Treatment continued ...

Dear blog posters (whether I agree with you or not!)

You will want to check out “Paula Zahn Now” tonight. They will be featuring a discussion of the “Ashley Treatment,” including another family that supports Ashley’s parents. Source: http://benandbenniewaddell.blogspot.com

Interested in your thoughts. I may not be able to blog mine until Sunday. MD

PS: Thanks for the contributing medical student who suggested read the original medical journal article on the procedure. I am tracking it down, but in the meantime you may to read the views of the author Dr. Douglas Diekema, recently interviewed by CNN. He headed the ethics panel that evaluated the parents' request back in 2004.

Sigh.

I didn't want to post about this story.

I don't make a secret of being a parent, but I'm not a momblogger and I only rarely mention my kids here (I think). However, the last 24 hours have seen a lot of pundits saying "Unless you have a child like this, you can't understand..."

Okay then. I have a child "like this": my son is eleven, on the verge of puberty (we presume), doesn't walk, doesn't talk, etc. etc. He's very small (under 40 lbs. right now), but that could certainly change in the next few years; he has a well-controlled seizure disorder, but that too could change in the next few years. When his cognition is given a number, it's given in terms of months, though I don't put much emphasis on that kind of assessment. We carry him a lot. He's hard to carry. He's not going to get easier to carry. The day may come when we need help.

And still, I don't understand. I don't understand removing healthy tissue and functioning organs--it's hard enough to schedule and endure a surgery when it can't be avoided. Puberty is not an extraordinary event. Growing is not a sin or a disease--it's what kids' bodies do, even disabled bodies. When we need help, we'll get it, somehow--but my son's body is fine as it is.

And one more thing: my son is no angel, no doll, no pet. He's a kid. He's a person. He's a human being. Treat him that way.

Postscript: Stories about parents who (quietly) find doctors to do appalling things to their disabled children do circulate among parents and teachers (and I imagine doctors and nurses and other professionals). I remember hearing long ago about a family that had their kid's vocal cords surgically altered because the kid couldn't talk, and the noises he (she?) did make were unpleasant to them. You hear stuff like this, sometimes. I generally hope and pray that they're urban legends, or at least distorted reports of something less troubling; when I heard about the Ashley case about a year ago, I wanted to believe it was one of those. But when a family puts up a website to explain their decision, that hope is surely lost.

UPDATE: Two more mothers who are speaking up--and they're already doing the heavy lifting:
Nufsaid
Dream Mom
and Thirza has an important point to make at Fit of Pique: "Not all caregivers are nice people." Too true.

Gulp....it's official

Got the UCLA Extension's fall catalog yesterday--and there's me, listed on page 128, teaching Disability and Public Policy, a new course for Extension, starting September 28. (The course description isn't exactly as I'd write it--so I really hope nobody calling himself a "legal expert" enrolls!) Despite the gulp in the title above, I'm excited; it's been fun to plan the readings and guest speakers. But I'll still feel like it's all make-believe until minimum enrollment is met and the first session commences.

Oh, and there are required texts--not sure why that doesn't show on the listing. I'm setting Jacqueline Vaughn Switzer, Disabled Rights: American Disability Policy and the Fight for Equality (Georgetown University Press 2003), and Mary Johnson and Barrett Shaw, eds., To Ride the Public's Buses: The Fight that Built a Movement (Advocado Press 2001), plus an assembled reader.

Remembering Anarcha

Petra Kuppers posted this announcement today on DS-Hum (I added the links):

Remembering Anarcha
Sunday, 14th May 2006, 5-7
Free
Theatre, Taylor Center
Auburn University, Montgomery AL

Black history, disability studies and performance scholars work together to remember Montgomery women Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey.

Come and join us for a discussion of Anarcha and J. Marion Sims, the gynecologist who used slave women as experimental subjects while searching for a cure for fistula.

We would love to hear from you about what you know about this story, how the local sites are marked, what the story means to you, how you remember it locally, and how you see its effects on race relations and medical practices today.

And we would love to tell and show you how we go about using movement, words and visuals to connect Anarcha's story to disability culture history and black history.

Petra Kuppers (Associate Professor, English, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
Anita Gonzalez (Associate Professor, Theatre and Dance, State University of New York – New Paltz)
Carrie Sandahl (Associate Professor in the School of Theatre at Florida State University, Tallahassee)

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And while we're mentioning Carrie Sandahl.... Bodies in Commotion: Disability and Performance (University of Michigan Press 2005), co-edited by Carrie Sandahl and Phil Auslander, was just awarded the Best Book Prize for 2006 from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. It's part of the Corporealities series of disability studies scholarship from the University of Michigan Press (David L. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder, series editors). Congratulations to all involved!