TOWARD AN ANTI-ABLEIST ACADEMY CONFERENCE | 2021

October 4, 2021 | 10am – 11:30am | Watch

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Urology at Michigan Medicine, and the Interim Director of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) and Director of Adaptive Sports & Fitness within the Division of Student Life at the University of Michigan. He also serves as the Director of Adaptive Sports in the Michigan Center for Human Athletic Medicine & Performance and is the Spokesperson for Guardian Life in their Equal & Able Partnership. [Biographical Information courtesy of Michigan Medicine]

October 5, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm Disability Studies Futures at the University of Michigan | Watch

Presenters:

• Robert Adams Associate Professor, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Director, University of Michigan Initiative on Disability Studies [UMInDS]
• Natasha Abner Assistant Professor, Linguistics Department, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
• Joshua Kupetz Assistant Director, English Department Writing Program Lecturer 2, English Language & Literature, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
• Petra Kuppers Professor of Performance Studies and Disability Culture English Language & Literature and Women’s & Gender Studies
• Ittai Orr Lecturer I, English Language & Literature, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Session Description: Since its inception in 2002, the University of Michigan Initiative on Disability Studies [UMInDS] has provided academic programming that focuses on teaching, knowledge production, and creative praxis through a Disability Culture framework. Building upon the legacy of UMInDS, please join UMInDS faculty in conversation on the future of Disability Studies at University of Michigan. We will explore radically inclusive teaching innovation, embodied disabled learning, and the future of disability scholarship.

October 6, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm Seeing Invisible Disabilities in the Classroom: Visions from Three Perspectives | Watch

Presenters:

• Alisse Portnoy, Associate Professor of English Language and Literature, LSA
• Julia Weiner, U-M Alumna (LSA ’21)
• Natalie Wojcik, U-M Undergraduate (LSA ’22)

Session Description: Join us for a conversation that explores some common ableist norms in University classrooms (especially focusing on invisible disabilities); presents some practical ideas and innovations to disrupt those norms (scalable for a range of class sizes and across a range of disciplines); and calls students, faculty, staff, and campus leadership to make visible and to disrupt the ableist norms that too often meet students in classrooms and other spaces at U-M.

October 8, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm I’m Not Ableist; That’s Crazy!”: Enabling ableism and disability in the inaccessible academy | Watch

Presenter

• Shanna K. Kattari PhD, MEd, CSE, ACS (they/them/theirs) Assistant Professor School of Social Work | Department of Women’s and Gender Studies

Session Description: This session will outline the hoops to jump through to get accommodations, well-intentioned colleagues who just don’t understand access, and a barrage of ableist microaggressions face those with disabilities who enter the Academy. Moreover, in talks of diversity and social justice, disability is often a footnote, if it is even included at all. Dr. Kattari will discuss some of the biggest challenges regarding ableism in higher education, while also offering some suggestions on how to begin disability justice work and be a better accomplice to disabled peers and colleagues.

October 13, 2021 | 9am – 10am Dismantling Ableism across Academic Spaces and Hierarchies | Watch

Presenters

• M. Remi Yergeau (they/them/theirs) Associate Director, Digital Studies Institute, Associate Professor, Department of English Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
• Alexandra Minna Stern, Associate Dean for the Humanities, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
• Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor, Departments of American Culture, History, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Obstetrics & Gynecology Founder and Co-Director, Sterilization and Social Justice Lab
• Theresa Tinkle (she/her) Director, Sweetland Center for Writing Professor of English and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Department of English
• David Porter Professor of English Language and Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature, College Literature, Science, and the Arts
• Robin Queen (she) Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Linguistics, German, English College Literature, Science, and the Arts

Session Description This session is tailored to engage University leadership in moving their units towards inclusive practices for people with disabilities.

October 15, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm | Watch Panelists:

• M. Remi Yergeau (they/them/theirs) Associate Director, Digital Studies Institute, Associate Professor, Department of English
• Josh Guberman (he/him) Ph.D. Student – School of Information, Graduate Research Fellow University of Michigan
• Helen Rottier, MS (she/they) Ph.D. Candidate – Disability Studies, Graduate Research Assistant University of Illinois at Chicago
• Noor Pervez (he/him) Community Engagement Manager, Austic Self Advocacy Network

Moderator: Ashley Wiseman Session Description Amidst sometimes confusing and conflicting information about autism, there are some simple facts: A flourishing autistic culture exists. Neurodivergent faculty, staff, and students are here at Michigan.In this panel, faculty, grad students, undergraduates, and advocates will speak from their experience, research, and advocacy work to help audience members understand neurodiversity and campus climate.

October 20, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm Beyond Stairs & Chairs: Making Spaces More Physically Accessible| Watch

Panelists:

• Jacquline Jeffery – Lead Design Manager/Code Specialist • AEC-Architecture & Engineering
• Dilip Das – Assistant Vice Provost, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Carla Campbell – Research Assistant Social/Behavioral Sciences Intermediate – ISR
• Susan Gott – Campus Planner – AEC-Campus Planning

Session Description: Join us for a conversation that explores the requirements to make spaces physically accessible and the challenges facing occupants in the existing University built environment. How do we advance the physical accessibility beyond the building code minimums? Explore the recommendations and implementations of the Student Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (SIDEA) Physical Committee. The SIDEA Physical Committee report included a wide range of recommendations to improve inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility in the physical environment at the University.

October 21, 2021 | 12pm – 1:30pm Pt.1 Assessing Workplace Culture Through a Disability Lens & Pt. 2 Intentional Recruitment of U-M Students | Watch

Part 1 Presenters:

• Kirsten Elling (she/her/hers) | Coordinator for Graduate Student Career Advancement
• Elizabeth Schaller (she/her/hers) | Recruitment Coordinator | University Career Center
• Danny Lakes(he/him) | Software Automation Specialist | Procter & Gamble
• Claire Stemper (She/Her) – Data Automation and Analytics | Procter & Gamble
• Scott Van Nice (he/him) – Director, Cybersecurity | Procter & Gamble

Session Description: How do you assess whether a workplace you want to work for is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion if you are a person with a disability? Learn about how to assess various aspects of an organization’s culture during the job and internship search process through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. During this session, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss the challenges of navigating this process and learn from an organization committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion with Procter & Gamble and the University Career Center staff. Part 2 Presenters:

• Paul Artale, Manager of Graduate Student Engagement, Rackham Graduate School
• Steven Gay, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Interim Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, Michigan Medicine
• Amy E. Whitesall (she/her/herself), Senior User Experience & Accessibility Strategist (UX A11y) U-M College of Engineering Communications & Marketing
• Madeline Gustafson U-M Undergraduate, College of Engineering

Session Description How do U-M School and College admissions offices recruit (or ignore) prospective and admitted disabled students? This session features U-M leaders focusing on their intentional messaging to prospective and admitted disabled students to ensure their accommodations and questions are addressed and that U-M remains a competitive choice for those students.

October 25, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm Beyond Compliance: Graduate Students with Disabilities- Needs Assessment & Promoting a More Inclusive & Accessible Campus Culture | Watch

Presenters:

• Ethriam Brammer, Assistant Dean, Horace H Rackham School of Graduate Students
• Arthur Verhoogt, Arthur F Thurnau Professor, Professor of Papyrology and Greek, Department of Classical Studies, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Initiatives, Horace H Rackham School of Graduate Studies
• Darlene Ray-Johnson, Student Affairs Director, Horace H Rackham School of Graduate Students
• Beth Dutridge-Corp, Graduate Education Program Manager, College of Literature, Science & Arts
• Christina Kline, Director of ADA, Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office (ECRT)

Session Description: In Winter 2020, all graduate students enrolled in the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School’s various programs were surveyed as part of the Graduate Student with Disability Needs Assessment. The study resulted in a report that included a wide range of recommendations to improve the climate for graduate students with disabilities not only within Rackham and its programs, but also the broader campus community.

October 27, 2021 | 3pm – 4pm Requesting Accommodations | Watch

Presenters:

• Christina Kline, Director of ADA, Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office (ECRT)
• Natasha Abner, Assistant Professor, Linguistics Department, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
• Pam McGuinty,  Financial Analyst, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Chanel Barnes U-M Undergraduate, College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts Communications and Media
• Madeline Gustafson U-M Undergraduate, College of Engineering

Session Description: Panel to discuss Universal Design for Learning (UDL), where we are, what is currently being worked on and where we’d like to go. What is the process for students, staff and faculty at UM to request accommodations? How can we make this process better? Hear from individuals who have navigated the process.

October 28, 2021 | 12pm – 1pm Closing Session: Embracing Disability Culture @ U-M | Watch

Presenters:

• Members of Disability Culture@U-M

Session Description: This session will showcase how creating intentional spaces to explore and uplift disability culture can increase inclusion and a sense of belonging among disabled people. Specifically, the session will focus on how Disability Culture at U-M (DC@UM) has helped advance the Student IDEA Board recommendations and how our current goals align with these recommendations.