The Netherlands Research School of Gender Studies and the interuniversity network Accessible Academia are organising a lecture and workshop series.
The lecture “disclosure dances in doctoral education“, given by Dr. Nicole Brown, will discuss the disclosure of disability amongst academic staff and postgraduate research students.
When: Wednesday 26 January 2022, from 15.00 – 16.00
Where: Online, please register by sending an email before 21 January 2022 to nog@uu.nl
Please let us know your accessibility needs: a speech-to-text interpreter can be arranged.
Where did all the disabled academics go? From statistics we know that disclosure of (dis)ability rates amongst academic staff and postgraduate research students are much lower than in the general population or amongst undergraduate students. However, there is no evidence that invisible disabilities are less prevalent in higher education. In this presentation, dr. Nicole Brown draws on her extensive research into the lived experience of ableism in academia to explore disclosure. Brown commences with a brief introduction to the Embodied Inquiry employing creative research methods for data collection. She then discusses how individuals are struggling to reconcile working and studying in what appears to be an inclusive academia with the realities of negotiating structural barriers, attitudinal challenges and managing symptoms of their conditions. Brown concludes with some suggestions on what we can do as individuals to improve practices within academia and thereby support those with disabilities, chronic illnesses and/or neurodivergences. After Brown’s lecture, writer and literary theorist Piet Devos will give a first response to the lecture. Afterwards, there will be room for questions and discussion from the audience.
