26. September, 15 – 16.30 Uhr, Universität Bremen, GW2 B2900

Prof. Dr. Alisha M.B. Heinemann und Prof. Dr. Natascha Korff

FB 12 Erziehungs- und Bildungswissenschaften

We cordially invite to a GUEST LECTURE of our Canadian colleagues
Dr. Heidi Janz and Dr. Michelle Stack about their

Continuing Adventures with Ableism in Education As “Special” Students

If you want to join via Zoom, please register via: abteilung-heinemann@uni-bremen.de. The Zoomlink will be sent to you on 25th of September.

Heidi Janz, Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers) is a Core Faculty Member and Associate Adjunct Professor with the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta. Her areas of specialization include Disability Ethics, Critical Disability Studies, and Research-Based Drama. She is also an active disability-rights advocate at the national level.  In her “other life,” she is a writer/playwright and filmmaker. Her creative work focuses on making the experiences of people with disabilities accessible to audiences made up of both people with disabilities and people who are temporarily able-bodied. Heidi Janz also has cerebral palsy.

Michelle Stack, Ph.D., is the Academic Director of the Learning Exchange for the University of British Columbia and an associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies. Her central research interest concerns how people, knowledge and institutions are categorized and the influence of these categorizations on our ability to grapple with inequity, particularly ableism and racism. Her current work focuses on cooperative colleges and universities as a way to provide opportunities for democratic decision-making, and food, job, and housing security for students, staff and faculty.

What they will talk about

Had we, as teenagers, not each decided to give mainstream education one last chance, we, most likely, would never have met. Providentially however, we did meet, as students at a high school that specialized in upgrading. In many ways, we were the unlikeliest of friends – Heidi coming from a “special” school for kids with disabilities, and Michelle coming from a psychiatric day hospital. However, quickly recognizing one another as Others in a sea of normies, a bond soon formed between us, as we sought—and often fought—to find our place in what we were told was the “real world.”  That bond would nonetheless be quickly and severely tested by ableism—an external ableism which led many of our teachers and other adults in our lives to miraculously transform Michelle from a “problem student” to a “humanitarian,” simply because she befriended the disabled student; and an internalized ableism which caused Heidi to question whether Michelle was a real friend, or simply a Good Samaritan. Fortunately, for both of us, we were ultimately able to recognize and navigate these early perils that ableism posed for us and our friendship. And out of this recognition of the toxicity of ableism ultimately came a shared sense of mission to disrupt ableism through our careers and our lives.

In this presentation, we will discuss some of the most troubling and persistent forms of ableism that we have seen in education and in society over the last forty years. These troubling, and even dangerous, forms of ableism range from a growing use of technology in schools with the aim of “fixing” disabled students, to the growing international legalization of medically assisted death for people with disabilities. We will examine some of the underlying assumptions about dis/ability and humanness that make these forms of ableism particularly pernicious.  Finally, we will conclude the presentation with a consideration of some steps that educators can take to begin to de-ableize their pedagogy, their classrooms, their schools, and, ultimately, society. (This is the plan for worldwide disruption that we first formulated when we were 16.)

Accessibility Notes: Der Vortrag wird in englischer Sprache gehalten, ohne Übersetzungen. This event is wheelchair accessible. Accessible toilets and all-Gender-bathrooms are available.

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