Dan Goodley and Rebecca Lawthom: Disability’s exposition of the academy: A composite narrative of belonging, community capacity and mutuality

Dan Goodley and Rebecca Lawthom

iHuman, School of Education, University of Sheffield

In this work in progress paper we reflect on our positions as senior/old academics in the university, our attempts to support disabled researcher colleagues and consider disability’s exposition of the academy. We tell the story of Florence; a composite character grappling with the challenges of research leadership and disability’s promise of driving change in the university. We interrogate the possibilities and challenges found in Florence’s story that embody concepts of belonging, community capacity and mutuality that we find to be helpful ideas for building an inclusive research culture. We acknowledge that we are the university and we can collectively work together to make sure that disabled researchers are a central part of our communities. This paper develops ideas that we have been developing with colleagues relating to depathologising the university (Goodley, 2024; Goodley et al, 2025)

Register at Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ly2UoQHYQ-Gm4Bt-0r-Gcg