Paper short abstract:

This presentation considers how we can bring disability and anti-ableist praxis into discussions on transforming the university. I explore why calls to decolonize and address power imbalances in the university and our own discipline often neglect disability, and reflect on how to change this.

Paper long abstract:

My presentation considers how we can bring disability and anti-ableist praxis into this panel’s discussion on transforming the university. I explore why calls to decolonize and address power imbalances in the university and in our own discipline often neglect disability. I question how this may be related to the ableism deeply ingrained in anthropology (Durban 2021), and investigate how the burgeoning sub-field of the anthropology of disability (Ginsburg and Rapp 2013, 2019) can inspire us to address this oversight. Building on the work of scholars such as Brown and Leigh (2020), Kafer (2013), Minich (2016), Mingus (2017), and Price (2011), I will consider how as teachers we can bring anti-ableist practices into our classrooms. Finally, I will share some reflections related to this topic from my own dissertation research on a national effort to make French universities inclusive of autistic students.