The wait is over! The 4th annual Summer Book Club starts on Thursday, June 13, at 3 PM Eastern. This year’s community-driven selection is Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education (Corporealities: Discourses of Disability) by Jay T. Dolmage is CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 (download PDF for free)
We invite everyone interested in the intersection of OER and EDI to join us this summer as we explore ableism in higher education, which, according to the author, “renders disability as abject, invisible, disposable, less than human, while able-bodiedness is represented as at once ideal, normal, and the mean or default.”
Book Club Schedule
Synchronous meetings are held on Thursdays, 3 PM Eastern/2 PM Central/1 PM Mountain/12 PM Pacific/9 AM Hawaii-Aleutian Time. Sessions are 1.5 hours in length. Registration is required for these meetings. Asynchronous discussions will be offered via OEG Connect.
The EDI Committee invites you to join this year’s book club to engage in thoughtful and purposeful discussion to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in Open Education. We look forward to seeing and hearing from you soon!
Sincerely,
Andrea, Ted, Lauren, and Wayde
CCCOER EDI Committee
Looking forward to the first book club meeting of the summer on the book Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. Bring your thoughts and questions from “Introduction: The Approach” and “Chapter 1: Steep Steps” for us all to contemplate and discuss.
Muhammad Hassan from Kean University in New Jersey and myself, Chelsea James, from Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona will be your guides. You are welcome to take a look at some of the prompts we’ve come up with, but please bring your own, as we are mostly looking forward to engaging together on this topic and wherever it leads us.
Hello everyone! My co-faciitator, @Tasha Moses, and I are looking forward to our discussion next Thursday. Here is a list of discussion questions that we’d like you to think about as we prepare to discuss Chapter 2: The Retrofit.
How does Stephen Kuusisto’s statement about higher education administrators’ attitudes toward students with disabilities resonate with your experiences or observations?
What are the implications of viewing disability support as someone else’s responsibility within higher education institutions?
According to Jay T. Dolmage, how does the ADA fall short in addressing the needs of disabled individuals in higher education?
In what ways can the ADA be seen as both a progressive step and a symbol of minimal change regarding disability accommodations?
How do physical retrofits like ramps and curb cuts exemplify the broader challenges of retrofitting?
How does the concept of retrofitting reveal the complex relationship between ableism and disablism in academic settings?
Can you share examples of ableism and disablism you’ve encountered or witnessed in educational environments?
In what ways do “curb cuts to nowhere” exemplify the limitations and challenges of retrofitting in higher education?
How does the concept of biocertification challenge traditional notions of disability accommodations in higher education?
What are the implications of access fatigue for both disabled students and educators in higher education? How can institutions address this issue to support sustainable accessibility practices?
How does the concept of access intimacy contribute to creating more inclusive and supportive environments for disabled individuals in educational settings? What are some examples of access intimacy that you’ve observed or experienced?
Looking forward to our discussion!
–Laura and Tasha
Hello everyone! My co-facilitator, @bchatmon, and I are excited about our discussion tomorrow (Thursday). Below is a list of questions we’d like you to consider as we delve into Chapter 3: Imaginary College Student.
Book: Academic Ableism
Chapter Three: Imaginary College Students
Author: Jay T. Dolmage
Opening Questions
What are your thoughts/takeaways/observations about the chapter? Your experiences? Observations?
How would you describe the chapter in one sentence? What is the main point or purpose of the chapter?
Main Questions
How does Dolmage critique the typical stereotypes and assumptions about disabled students in higher education? Can you identify specific examples he uses to illustrate these points, and how do these stereotypes impact the inclusion and success of disabled students?
Dolmage discusses the concept of “imaginary college students” and how these constructs influence policies and practices in higher education. How do these imaginary constructs differ from the actual experiences and needs of disabled students? In what ways do these discrepancies manifest in academic environments?
What strategies does Dolmage propose for dismantling the imaginary constructs of college students and fostering a more inclusive and accessible academic environment? How can educators and administrators apply these strategies in their institutions to support disabled students effectively?
Closing
Share one golden line from the article and share why it stood out.
Do you have any lingering questions or statements after reading this chapter? Is there anything you would like to learn more about this topic?
Hello! My co-facilitator and I are excited to discuss the chapter on Universal Design this week! We have a few questions that we would like to share in advance:
Is your institution involved in universal design and in what capacity?
Thinking back to our own backgrounds, what have been our cultural proclivities towards multimodal/multi-literacies? Do you notice some were more valued/suppressed than others?
Has universal design been co-opted as a term to serve as a marketing tool/push forward a neoliberal agenda or is it used to serve students? Could both be the case?
What are some strategies that you use in your classroom to make sure that students with different learning styles are able to access the content? How could some of these strategies be applied to professional/daily life?
Robert and I are excited to facilitate our session on Chapter 5. Here is a list of questions we came up with and we are looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts and ideas.
Questions
What do we think about the way that Dolmage uses popular films as a source? Are there any aspects of his argument that you find particularly compelling or problematic? Why?
Have we seen depictions of disability that parallel Dolmage’s analysis in other mediums of popular culture?
Do we see any of the films Dolmage discussed differently after having read this chapter?
What statement, phrase, or idea stood out to you from this chapter and why?
How do your own experiences or observations of disability on campus compare with the representations discussed by Dolmage?
How does Dolmage address the intersectionality of disability with other identities (such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status) in films?
How can filmmakers and content creators contribute to a more accurate and respectful portrayal of disabled students?
Do we feel that there is the issue with having able bodied actors portraying disabled people?