Moments and Modalities of Access: Composing Disability
In composition’s history as a remedial space, or as a sorting gate, from Harvard in the 1870s to CUNY in the 1970s, composition grew and contracted in ways that formed boundaries around bodies. These two major “foundational moments” in composition’s history were profoundly about diversity. They were also profoundly shaped by disability — disability helped to reshape the modalities of teaching in our field. It makes sense that this reshaping would continue in an era of multimodal and mediated composition. In this presentation, Dolmage considers whether disability is truly reshaping multimodal composition, or whether it is simply being accommodated out of this design process.
Apr 4, 2019 at 2:00 PM – 3:20 PM
Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages
Moments and Modalities of Access: Composing Disability Event Flyer
Jay Dolmage (University of Waterloo)
In composition’s history as a remedial space, or as a sorting gate, from Harvard in the 1870s to CUNY in the 1970s, composition grew and contracted in ways that formed boundaries around bodies. These two major “foundational moments” in composition’s history were profoundly about diversity. They were also profoundly shaped by disability — disability helped to reshape the modalities of teaching in our field. It makes sense that this reshaping would continue in an era of multimodal and mediated composition. In this presentation, Dolmage considers whether disability is truly reshaping multimodal composition, or whether it is simply being accommodated out of this design process.
Workshop
Working Against Academic Ableism
Apr 5, 2019 at 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
606 Bird Library
Jay Dolmage (University of Waterloo)
In this collaborative workshop led by Dolmage, participants will address ableist attitudes, policies, and practices built into higher education. The group will interrogate the minimal and temporary means we have been given to address inequities, and the cost such an approach has for disabled students and faculty.
Those comfortable with sharing should bring examples of “accommodations” that you may have asked for yourself, or made available to students, to consider what was effective about them and what may have limited their effectiveness. The session ends with a broader look at ableism as we try to come up with ways to move forward.
RSVP to Erika Dwyer by March 25 and include any accessibility accommodation requests.
Supporters include:
• Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition
• Cultural Foundations of Education
• The Burton Blatt Institute’s (BBI) Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach
• Disability Cultural Center
• Syracuse University Humanities Center
Jay Dolmage’s Bio:
I am committed to disability rights in my scholarship, service, and teaching. My work brings together rhetoric, writing, disability studies, and critical pedagogy. My first book, entitled Disability Rhetoric, was published with Syracuse University Press in 2014. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education was published with the University of Michigan Press in 2017 and is available in an open-access version online. Disabled Upon Arrival: Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction
of Race and Disability was published in 2018 with Ohio State University Press. I am the Founding Editor of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies. I am currently an Associate Professor of English at the University of Waterloo where I am committed to creating a more accessible future for higher education.
About the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach
The Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach will create and advance interdisciplinary, intersectional educational programs, research and pedagogy focused on disability justice, identities, cultures and studies. The office will also engage with a wide array of University constituents to interface, network and collaborate with local, regional, national and global partners, and pursue development and advancement opportunities that underscore, celebrate and enhance the rich and nuanced experiences of disabled people. Disabled students, faculty, staff and alumni—including the significant experience and contributions of veterans—will be at the heart of this initiative.
About the Burton Blatt Institute
BBI reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities, with offices in Syracuse, NY, New York City, Washington, D.C., Lexington, KY, and Atlanta, GA. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar, to better the lives of people with disabilities. For more information about BBI, visit: http://bbi.syr.edu.