Transformative Difference: Disability, Culture and the Academy – Conference September 2011

Research Summary: Transformative Difference: Disability, Culture and the Academy Conference

Event Type: Multidisciplinary academic conference

Dates & Location: September 7-8, 2011, Liverpool Hope University, UK

Keynote Speakers: Prof. Len Barton (University of London), Prof. Fiona Kumari Campbell (Griffith University), Prof. Dan Goodley (Manchester Metropolitan University), Prof. Stuart Murray (Leeds University)

Primary Focus: Disability as transformative lens across disciplinary research, teaching, and scholarship in education, medicine, humanities, and beyond

Key Themes: Challenging disciplinary boundaries through Disability Studies perspectives; examining barriers to disability engagement in traditional academic fields; exploring evolving attitudes toward disability and ability

Submission Deadline: April 4, 2011 (abstracts max 250 words, biographies max 150 words)

Contact: Irene Rose, Centre for Culture and Disability Studies

Scope: Welcomes research strands, panels, individual papers, and alternative format presentations addressing how disability functions as critical transformative difference in academy

Transformative Difference: Disability, Culture and the Academy
Wed 7 – Thurs 8 September 2011
Liverpool Hope University, UK

Keynote speakers: Prof. Len Barton (University of London), Prof. Fiona Kumari Campbell (Griffith University, Brisbane), Prof. Dan Goodley (Manchester Metropolitan University), Prof. Stuart Murray (Leeds University)

It is now widely recognised that a critical engagement with disability has the power to transform how we research and teach in a range of disciplinary areas – from education to medicine to the humanities and beyond. At the same time, conceptions of disability (and ability) are constantly changing, with shifting attitudes, new models, and the work of activists and educators to create a more equal society. This multidisciplinary conference seeks to explore how disability may function as a “transformative difference” in the academy, as well as how changing attitudes toward disability might have an impact on a range of subject areas. In particular, the conference will explore the following issues:

How might an engagement with the difference of disability challenge, enrich, or transform work in particular disciplines?
How do changing attitudes towards and perceptions of disability affect research, teaching, and scholarship in different fields?
How does the inclusion of a Disability Studies perspective transform disciplines that have not traditionally embraced this standpoint?
What are the challenges of, or barriers to, engaging with disability (and Disability Studies) in disciplines that have not traditionally done so?

The Centre for Culture and Disability Studies welcomes submissions for research strands or panels, group or individual papers and presentations in alternative formats. Abstracts (max 250 words) with a brief biography (max 150 words) are invited for submission by April 4^th 2011. Please send enquiries to the coordinator Irene Rose or visit the Centre for Culture and Disability Studies web site for more details.