12-1:30pm EST

This presentation examines the collaborative autoethnographic work of Dr. Acevedo and Dr. Stolz with pre-service professionals in disability studies courses. The session explores how community partnerships support critical pedagogy and disability activism, with a particular emphasis on the role of conscientization in promoting a culturally affirming understanding of disability. Notably, the discussion highlights the impact of disability studies as critical pedagogy and its significance in advancing disabled people’s pursuit of bodymind autonomy and decision-making power in relation to what Snyder and Mitchell (2006) call “the controlling professions.”

45 min presentation with 30-min Q&A

Register at Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/st-7A7IaQ328y09HlOXI6w

14th October: Author Talks

Access Vernaculars: SDS Author Conversation with Cassandra Hartblay

12-1:30pm EST

Join Cassandra Hartblay, author of new book ACCESS VERNACULARS (Cornell University Press), with discussants Raquel Velho and Xenia Cherkaev, for a discussion of a global perspective on critical access studies.

Access Vernaculars explores moments when accessible design fails. Observing how both disabled and nondisabled people in Russia recognize and point out poorly executed accessible design in built environments, ethnographer Cassandra Hartblay traces how disabled people in one Russian city narrate experiences of pervasive inaccess, and interprets popular images of failed accessibility as critiques of the Russian state and ablenationalism. In the process, Hartblay asks how disability advocacy movements proceed when ablenationalism co-opts accessibility and calls for a critical global disability studies that pushes back against Euro-American hegemony.

Through the stories disabled people tell about access and inaccess, this book examines local terminology used by those with mobility impairments to describe the built environment—a unique lexicon combining translated terms from global disability advocacy with Russophone words inherited from generations of political advocacy. These ethnographic accounts demonstrate the ways vocabularies of disability access spread in friction, taking on dynamic and unexpected meanings in transnational sociopolitical contexts. Access Vernaculars presents a global perspective on the intersection of critical disability studies and sociocultural anthropology.

This event will include a 25 minute author talk, 10 minute response from each discussant, a 5 minute break, followed by a 25 minute q&a.

Register at Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/3kLQf1V9S723cHAKW75z5w

27th October: Mentoring Conversations 

Preparing Personal Statements: Nicole Schroeder and Matthew Wolf-Meyer

5-6:15pm EST

Register at Zoom Link:   https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ZrIwAg_NTpC3cAbIZCFThg

November 2025:

3rd November: Work in Progress

Dan Goodley

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

12-1:30pm EST

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)

Past events

30th & 31st May 2025

This May 30th-31st, the Society for Disability Studies is hosting a “non-conference,” two days of online events. The non-conference is organized around two recent books, Faye Ginsburg & Rayna Rapp’s Disability Worlds and Robert Chapman’s Empire of Normality. Each day will start with a book talk from the author, followed by an “author-meets-readers” panel. The readers for Disability Worlds are: Denielle Elliott (York University), Bess Williamson (), Christine Sargent (University of Colorado, Denver), Kim Fernandes (University of Toronto), and Toni Nieminen (University of Helsinki); the readers for Empire of Normality are Richard Grinker (George Washington University), Elizabeth Fein (Duquesne University), Rosalyn Malcolm (Durham University), Emily Lim Rogers (Duke University), and Andrew Brown (University of Washington). All presentations will be followed by a Q&A period with the audience.

Access files will be provided prior to the events. Please send any access requests to admin@disstudies.org.

Program for the two days, displayed on Canva.

May 30, 9-10:30 Eastern

Robert Chapman’s Empire of Normality, Book Talk

May 30, 10:30-12 Eastern

Robert Chapman’s Empire of Normality, Author-Meets-Readers

May 31, 9-10:30 Eastern

Faye Ginsburg & Rayna Rapp’s Disability Worlds, Book Talk

May 31, 10:30-12 Eastern

Faye Ginsburg & Rayna Rapp’s Disability Worlds, Author-Meets-Readers

November 2024 – General Members’ Meeting

Please join us this November 1 from 12-1:30 EST for our annual General Membership Meeting. There will be short presentations from the Society for Disability Study’s President and Treasurer, the editors of Disability Studies Quarterly, and the chairs of each of our standing committees, followed by a Q&A session. More information about the GMM was sent to members by email and posted on Patreon.

October 2024 – Where’s the Accessibility in Open Access?

Please join us this October 30th from 12-1:30 Eastern for a discussion about Open Access publishing, the role of accessibility in scholarly publishing, the importance of scholarly societies in supporting journals, how concerns with equity inform Open Access, and the present and future of Disability Studies Quarterly. Our panel discussion will include current DSQ editor Jeff Brune, Ohio State University librarian Johanna Meetz, Marcel LaFlamme from PLOS, and Tanya Titchkosky, author of The Question of Access. Please send any accessibility needs to our administrative assistant. A recording and transcripts will be available to SDS members after the event.

September 2024 – Back to School Celebration with Margaret Price

Please join us this September 3rd from 12-1:30 EDT for our Back to School celebration. We’ll have a discussion of Margaret Price’s Crip Spacetime: Access, Failure, and Accountability in Academic Life (Duke UP 2024). Panelists Benjamin Reiss, Aparna Nair, and Helen Rottier will each discuss the book and its implications for disability studies, Margaret will provide a response, and we’ll have an open discussion of the book. Prepare for the event by reading the introduction (or the whole book!) at https://www.dukeupress.edu/crip-spacetime. SDS members are welcome and will have access to a recording and transcript of the event.

August 2024 – Discussion of the academic job market with Jonathan Flowers and Matthew Wolf-Meyer

On Friday, 23rd August 2024 11-12:30 PST, join members of SDS’s board—Johnathan Flowers and Matthew Wolf-Meyer—for a discussion of the academic job market. How can you prepare yourself? What should you expect? Are there ways to stay positive through an arduous and often oblique process? Johnathan and Matthew will discuss their experiences as job seekers and members of hiring committees, and will answer your questions! Free for SDS members, who will also have access to a recording and transcripts.

January 2024 – Affinity Groups Schedule

On Friday, 12th January and Saturday, 13th January 2024, SDS will be hosting a series of affinity groups for members and non-members to help us develop plans for the future of the organization. We’d love to see you participate! 

Friday [Zoom links removed after the events]:

International/Non-Western (8am PST/ 7pm CET – 90 minutes) CARTe- Requested; ASL Translation-

LGBTQAI+ (10am PST/7pm CET – 90 minutes) CARTe- Requested; ASL Translation-

BIPOC (12pm Pacific/9pm CET – 90 minutes) CARTe- Requested; ASL Translation-

Saturday [Zoom links removed after the events]:

Artists, Community Scholars, Activists (8am Pacific/5pmCET – 90 minutes) CARTe- Requested; ASL Translation-

Family members of disabled individuals (10am Pacific/7pm CET – 90 minutes) CARTe- Requested; ASL Translation-

Students (12pm Pacific/9pm CET – 90 minutes) CARTe- Requested; ASL Translation-