Disability Studies Events
Virtual Events
We are excited to announce the following virtual disability studies events at Fordham this fall. Please join us and invite others!
For access questions, contact [email protected]. All times listed are Eastern.
Kenny Fries
Wednesday, September 9 | 1:00 p.m.
Poet, memoirist and disability arts leader Kenny Fries discusses representations of disability in culture and mass media, and shares work from his current book project, Stumbling over History: Disability and the Holocaust. ASL interpretation was provided.
Jai Virdi “Better Living Through Hearing Happiness”
Friday, September 18 | 2 p.m.
Join us in celebrating the launch of Dr. Jaipreet Virdi's Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History. Make a purchase from The Lit. Bar.
American postwar hearing aid advertisements promoted an ideal way of living that was perfectly measured by a deaf consumer’s quest for happiness. Rather than focusing on the technical specifications of the products, advertisers promoted highly gendered ableist messages intended to capitalize on the beauty and sartorial expectations of their consumers. These messages, however, seemed to contradict with the aesthetics of the hearing aids: while some hearing aids models were beautifully designed, users were repeatedly advised how to hide them in their clothes, hair, and bodies. This talk examines how such messages have remained consistent in the design and promotion of hearing aids. ASL interpretation and CART will be provided.
Jaipreet Virdi is Assistant Professor of history of medicine, technology, and disability at the University of Delaware. She is author of Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History (University of Chicago Press, 2020) and co-editor of Disability and the Victorians: Attitudes, Legacies, Interventions (Manchester University Press, 2020).
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85622512632?pwd=UDliSk9sVGpJRHVIRTIrVXZnNjAydz09
Meeting ID: 856 2251 2632
Passcode: 8Lre6j
Film discussion of Crip Camp with Judy Heumann
Wednesday, October 14 | 5-5:30 p.m.
Steeped in the humor and music of the late 1960’s era, Crip Camp explores the universal experience of summer camp awakenings that would transform lives and shape the future of the disability rights movement.
Judy is an International disability rights activist. As a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities, she is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community and is featured in Crip Camp.
Please RSVP at: https://cripcampdiscussion.eventbrite.com
Crip Camp is available for free at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFS8SpwioZ4
Fordham Distinguished Lecture on Disability:
Judy Heumann “The Disability Rights Movement: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are and Where We Need to Go”
Wednesday, October 14 | 5:45-7:15 p.m.
Judy Heumann is 72 years of age, had polio in 1949 in Brooklyn NY and has out of necessity become an activist. She has played a pivotal role in the development of the Disability Rights Movement with colleagues in the US and around the world. She will discuss experiences growing up in a world where there were no laws that made it illegal to discriminate against disabled people and the formation of a cross disability movement that has grown stronger over the past decades. The growth and empowerment of the Movement has resulted in the passage of critical pieces of legislation such as the IDEA, Section 504 and the ADA. These laws are making dramatic changes in certain aspects of life, but the benefits are not equally felt across the entire disability community. Heumann's discussion will not only enable us to look at the past and the current state of affairs but will also discuss where the Disability Rights Movement needs to advance. Audience participation is essential. The event will have ASL interpretation and CART services.
Please RSVP at: https://fordhamdisability.eventbrite.com
The Fordham Distinguished Lecture on Disability is organized by the Faculty Working Group on Disability and co-sponsored by the Provost Office, the Chief Diversity Office, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Law, the Gabelli School of Business, the Graduate School of Social Service, the Economics Department and the English Department.
Aimi Hamraie
Monday, October 19 | 1 p.m.
Aimi Hamriae discusses their book Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability, which uses feminist, crip, and intersectional lenses to reveal Universal Design’s complex origins in disabled peoples’ knowledge and expertise about built environments. ASL interpretation and CART will be provided.
Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/99949354482
Lydia X. Z. Brown
Monday, October 26 | 6 p.m.
Lydia X. Z. Brown discusses their work as a disability justice advocate, organizer, educator, attorney, strategist, and writer, who focuses on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially institutionalization, incarceration, and policing. ASL interpretation and CART will be provided.
Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/99949354482
Ralph Vacca “Inclusive Design: Designing for the Overlooked”
Wednesday, October 28 | 2 p.m.
In this seminar Dr. Vacca will explore the subfield of inclusive design – designing for the needs of people with permanent, temporary, situational, or changing disabilities. Through case-studies on his work with youth, he will explore the ways in which inclusive design becomes both about design justice and innovation. ASL interpretation will be provided.
Dr. Vacca is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies. His research sits at the intersection of media studies and human-computer interaction. Dr. Vacca specializes in the use of design methodologies to explore how digital media can be developed and used to support emotional wellbeing, with a particular focus on the role of culture and data. Before joining the Fordham faculty, he co-founded a successful technology company (www.kognito.com) that focused on the design of mental health simulations. He is currently a Co-PI on a National Science Foundation grant to co-design and rethink data literacy learning with middle school teachers through the visual arts approaches.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85260363008?pwd=N1lZdnpzOWFIZHdsbWgrZ2JlakRBQT09
Meeting ID: 852 6036 3008
Passcode: 420464
M. Remi Yergeau
Wednesday, November 11 | 1 p.m.
M. Remi Yergeau discusses their research for their book, Authoring Autism: On Rhetoric and Neurological Queerness, as well as their new book project on disability, digital rhetoric, surveillance, and sociality, tentatively titled Crip Data. ASL interpretation and CART will be provided.
Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/99949354482