EVENTS

Join us at the Johns Hopkins Diversity Leadership Summit for a pivotal session titled “Breaking the Bias: Academic Ableism in Higher Education.” Dive into an enriching discussion on the often unnoticed barriers faced by disabled people in higher education, and explore how these challenges undermine equity and lead to lack of disabled representation in research and teaching. Together, we’ll identify actionable strategies to dismantle academic ableism, aiming to create a more equitable and accessible educational landscape for everyone.

Hopkins’ Advanced Academic Programs will host an engaging panel discussion which will bring together a dynamic group of speakers from the Hopkins’ community to shed light on the pressing need for accessibility within spaces of higher education. We will delve into the current challenges, share innovative practices, and discuss strategies for creating educational environments where every student has the opportunity to thrive. Join us in spearheading a movement toward a more accessible future in higher education.

I will present an academic paper that delves into the judicial proceedings involving individuals labeled as disabled and subjected to custodial institutions. This exploration critically examines the ways in which legal, medical, and judicial professionals have historically leveraged perceptions of sensory abilities—or the perceived absence thereof—as a basis for determining an individual’s fitness for society and justification for lifelong institutionalization. Through this analysis, the paper seeks to unravel the complex interplay of legal perception, sensory evaluation, and the broader question of justice, challenging traditional notions and advocating for a more nuanced understanding of justice, care, and community-making in the context of disability law and policy. 

I will give a Grand Rounds presentation with Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The session, “At the Bedside: Disability, Bioethics, and Medicine,” invites healthcare professionals, students, and scholars to explore the intricate intersections between disability, bioethical considerations, and the practice of rehabilitative medicine. This talk aims to provide a deeper understanding of how disability shapes patient care, ethical decision-making, and medical practice, promoting a holistic approach to healthcare. 

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine will host a vital panel discussion on enhancing the representation of disabled physicians in the medical field. As a participating panelist, I will delve into the crucial role of disabled perspectives in medical education and practice. Through highlighting unique experiences, this panel aims to underscore how these insights can enrich patient care, foster educational breadth, and spark biomedical innovation. Be part of a conversation that champions disability and paves the way for a more equitable medical industry.

I will participate as a “human book” in the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) “Living Library Project.” In this event, I will share my journey as a first-generation college graduate thriving with a developmental disability. Now working in the critical fields of disability policy and higher education, I aim to offer insights into navigating ableism,  adversity, and the importance of disabled perspectives in government. The Human Library Project promotes a profound exchange of experiences and ideas aimed at fostering understanding and breaking down barriers.

I gave a lecture at Princeton University on disability policy and custodial institutionalization. 

I spoke at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business on the topic of disability and accessibility. 

I spoke at the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Disability Identity Studies & Culture meeting on the importance of building and fostering disability culture in institutions of higher education. 

Along with my co-directors, Mike Attie and Kat Poljak, we pitched our film Untitled Pennhurst Documentary, to a panel of film industry executives. Visit the Big Sky Film Festival Pitch Competition website to learn more. 

Co-Directed a compelling staged reading of Martina Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Cost of Living. This thought-provoking event was produced by The Full Circle Theatre Company. For more information, visit The Full Circle Theatre Company’s website.

I presented  at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on the topic of disability policy, international relations, and my experience of being a disabled person involved in this field. 

I developed and facilitated two separate trainings for the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS). The first session helped staff and administrators better understand access and disability within an organizational setting. This included instruction in DEIA-best-practices and ensuring spaces are universally accessible for all people. The second session assisted employees in better understanding historical and contemporary issues facing the Intellectual & Developmental Disability (I/DD) community for MNHS’ “Road Sign Reimagined Project” which centers on state-funded schools and institutions for people with I/DD. 

I presented a paper at the annual conference for Law, Culture, and the Humanities. My presentation examined historical uses of restraint in care settings and how that influences contemporary healthcare policies for Americans. 

I facilitated two separate training sessions. The first session helped staff and administrators better understand access and disability within an organizational setting. This included instruction in DEIA-best-practices and ensuring spaces are universally accessible for all people. The second session assisted teachers in creating accessible learning environments and materials such as syllabi, unit plans, and assignments. These workshops provided further training for administrators, faculty, and staff and helped them incorporate disability not only as a unique and thriving experience but also as an area of critical study.  

I presented at the fifth annual international Conference for Carceral Geography hosted at the University of Melbourne. The conference’s theme was on confinement, spaces and practices of care and control. My presentation examined how what is perceived as care by medical doctors becomes received as violence by disabled people in institutions and long-term care facilities. 

The second virtual event on a series about disability and theater sponsored by the Full Circle Theatre. 

I gave a lecture for and lead discussion with the students of the Blake School’s “Identity and Representation” class. This class examined the multiple and intersecting identities of the human experience and mapped national and international dialogues around identity and representation in the media. My lecture explicitly highlighted identities of disability, and how disability intersects with other underrepresented identities such as experiences found in BIPOC and LGTBQ communities.

I presented a paper at the annual conference for the American Society for Legal History. My investigated topics of disability, personhood, and children’s law in the United States.

I presented a paper at the annual conference for the American Society for Theater Research. My presentation examined disability, performance, and health care policy. 

I presented to the leadership and employees of the Center for Energy & Environment on how to implement best practices for working with the disability community and promoting accessible sustainability.

I presented a paper at the annual conference for the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. My presentation discussed how to use interdisciplinary and diverse methodologies to examine disability and law. 

This event on research and accessibility was hosted by the University of Minnesota. I spoke on navigating access barriers in research practices as a person with an intellectual/developmental disability. This event featured scholars from various disciplinary homes and  stages in their careers. We addressed the challenges and successes we encountered, the mentorship we received, and advice for how to help support people who have access barriers in research spaces and processes.

View the recording here. 

I spoke at an event hosted by UNESCO’s Center for Peace that aims to educate society on best practices regarding disability and accessibility.    

I served as a facilitator for a workshop intended to help staff and faculty better understand accessibility and disability within an educational setting. I consulted with Blake’s Chair of Equity & Instruction to create a workshop that provides an introduction to disability as both an area of critical study and a thriving community of disabled people.  

I was interviewed for musician’s Molly Joyce’s ongoing multimedia art project, Perspectives, commissioned by Great Northern.

For more, see Great Northern’s website here. 

I served as a panelist for a roundtable event, featuring leading disability justice and abolitionist scholar Dr. Liat Ben-Moshe. Dr. Ben-Moshe will discuss her new book, Decarcerating Disability: Deinstitutionalization and Prison Abolition (2020), and the importance of centering disability justice in coalition-building and imagining a world beyond policing, criminalization, and incarceration. Presented in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Study, Minnesota Transform: A Just University for Just Futures, Critical Disability Studies Collective, and University of Minnesota Law School. 

Watch the recording here.  

I moderated a panel presentation at the annual Pennsylvania Historical Association conference. Our panel examined Pennsylvania’s rich disability history and the archival resources available for scholars interested in exploring this history.

A virtual event sponsored by the Full Circle Theater Company exploring issues and topics regarding disability & theater. 

I spoke on contemporary policy issues facing the disability community at an event co-hosted by the Pennhurst Asylum & the Spring-Ford Area Historical Society. The event comprised of historical tours hosted by the Pennhurst Asylum featuring disability historians and advocates. All proceeds went towards preserving the Pennhurst campus. 

The event sold out. 

A virtual event discussing accessibility and disability at the University of Minnesota.

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I delivered a paper presentation at the annual Society for Disability Studies Conference. I examined the Pennhurst Asylum community to illuminate how they conduct vernacular, dis/abled, and performed historiography through their collective inhabitation of and care for this site.

I spoke at a virtual event about exploring archival materials regarding institutions for disabled people in Pennsylvania. The Senator John Heinz History Center with Association with the Smithsonian Institute sponsored the event.

Watch the recording of the event here. 

I delivered a lecture at the University of Minnesota examining the relationship between law and performance in the commitment trials of disabled children committed to the Pennhurst State School & Hospital. 

I delivered a paper presentation at the Society for Disability Studies at the University of Ohio in Columbus, OH (virtual presentation). I examined commitment trial transcripts and patient files of former patients who died at the Pennhurst State School & Hospital under the age of 21. I identified patterns of medical and legal claims and moral determinations made through the forms of treatment and the restraints used on the former patients of the Pennhurst State School & Hospital. This data allows me to focus my analysis on the connections between the malpractice and violence documented in the archival materials and the performance practices of the Pennhurst Asylum attraction.

I delivered a keynote presentation to the Southeastern Minnesota Center for Independent Living (SEMCIL) addressing the successes of community-based living policies for disabled people while looking towards new issues facing the disability community. 

I performed in a live reading of a collection of plays about climate change and environmentalism at the East Side Freedom Library. The Full Circle Theatre Company produced the reading, and Stephanie Lein Walseth directed. 

I delivered a paper presentation at the Exploring the Intersection of Scripture, Theology, and the Sciences Conference at the Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY. I examined gene edition, neo-eugenics, and concerns of disabled religious observers. I identified patterns of medical and legal claims and moral determinations made in the eugenics era of the 1920s in the United States, and current rhetoric of scientists and ethicists regarding gene editing technology. This data allowed me to focus my analysis on the connections between rhetoric of the eugenic era and current regulations surrounding gene editing, while giving recommendations for policy makers and disabled religious observers around safe and ethical options for gene editing.

I delivered a paper presentation at the Manitoba Ontario-Minnesota-Saskatchewan (MOMS) History of Medicine Conference at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. I examined the exhibition piece “Suspension Therapy” previously on display outside of the Pennhurst Asylum Haunted Attraction. I investigated how this “Suspension Therapy” exhibit not only captured the fantastical amount of violence found in the attraction, but also encapsulated the lived reality for the residents of the Pennhurst State School & Hospital. This paper incorporated primary research regarding the use of chemical and physical restraints during the early 20th century, newspaper coverage of Pennhurst during its years of operation and the coverage immediately following the opening of the haunted attraction, and testimony from the federal district court case Halderman v. Pennhurst (1978). 

I acted as a Docent in a production of Caught at the Guthrie Theatre. The Full Circle Theatre Company produced the play, and Rick Shiomi directed. 

I delivered a keynote presentation at the Adaptive Sports Discovery Expo at the University of Minnesota addressing the importance of adaptive athletics for disabled people while highlighting ways to combat pervasive ableism within athletics and recreational settings. 

I delivered  a presentation discussing Patches, a play I wrote and performed, that addresses the sudden death of my parents and their own experiences with disability.

I acted as Mason in the World Première of Under This Roof at the Guthrie Theatre. The Full Circle Theatre Company produced the play, and James A. Williams directed.

I delivered a paper presentation at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in Boston, MA. I examined rhetoric around images of disabled athletes, especially disabled bodybuilders. I identified patterns of language that described the performance of disabled athletes as “inspiring,” but not equal to their nondisabled peers. This data allows me to focus my analysis on how disabled athletes rupture normative narratives surrounding the aesthetics of bodybuilding.