Yale Schwarzman Center Hosts Symposium on Disability and Accessibility

3.21.22
Press Release
Black and white photograph of protesters with signs marching in a circle in front of federal buildings in San Francisco, CA, 1977. Photo courtesy of Anthony Tusler: dculture.org/anthony-tusler

NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 21, 2022 – On the 45th anniversary of the first disability rights legislation passed in the United States, Yale Schwarzman Center (YSC) will support organizers Kenya Loudd GRD '26, Michelle Morgan GRD '17, Deborah Streahle GRD '22, and Emily Yankowitz '17 GRD '24 in hosting a public symposium on the evolution of disability, accessibility and inclusion across all institutions. Panels of alumni, faculty, students and activists will weave together stories of personal experience, legal and historical perspectives and emerging research, offering practical, hands-on suggestions for increasing accessibility and inclusion in any organization. 

 

To accommodate the whole community, YSC will host this virtual symposium with panels and talks from 9:00am-3:30pm (EDT) on April 4. To see the full agenda and register for the free event, click here.

 

Highlights of the agenda include:

 

Navigating Academia with Disabilities Panel - A panel of students from the disability advocacy and activist communities share their perspectives and how they’ve navigated their academic lives as people with disabilities. 

 

Disability Theory in Practice - Yale faculty from the departments of Public Health, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, History of Science and Medicine will discuss their research on critical age and disability studies, trauma informed pedagogy, and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted people with disabilities. 

 

Alumni Panel - A panel of distinguished Yale Alumni who work on legal issues around education, accessibility and disability rights, and who lead national advocacy organizations and neurosurgery programs will share their perspectives and the explore state of disability accessibility and inclusion. 

 

Interdisciplinary Research at the Intersection of Disability - Creators and researchers will share raw and authentic conversations about anti-vaccination lawsuits, emerging research about the history of science and medicine, and survivors' perspectives on the past hundred years of living with disabilities in America. 

 

Everyday Accessibility - Join accessibility specialists across the campus and learn about what Yale is doing to make their community disability and accessibility inclusive and how similar resources can be utilized in any organization. 

 

CART and ASL interpreters will be provided for this event. For additional disability-related accommodations, please contact Michelle Morgan at michelle.morgan@yale.edu. If possible, requests for accommodations should be made by Thursday, March 31, 2022.

 

About YSC

Yale Schwarzman Center (YSC) is transformational for Yale in providing, for the first time, a center for student life and the arts at the historic heart of the Yale University campus. YSC produces programs and collaborative arts experiences geared toward audiences within and beyond the Yale campus. Learn more at https://schwarzman.yale.edu.