➡ Where: Online (Zoom)
➡ Date: Thursday 19th June 2025
➡ Time: 9.00am – 11.00am (UK time)
We invite you to the summer event from the Inclusion Leadership RIG, entitled ‘The Depathologising University’.
Join Co-Convenors, Dr Beth Holmes, Dr Wendy Conrad and Dr Donnie Adams, for the session, when they will be joined by Professor Dan Goodley, Professor of Disability Studies and Education in the University of Sheffield’s School of Education.
Professor Goodley’s research focuses on the field of Critical Disability Studies and during this session he will be discussing his research which focuses on the relationship between higher education and disability.
It has been argued that the university needs depathologising; a radical rethink and reorientation of the university’s relationship with disability. This presentation offers an original affirmative proposition; that the university is already depathologising.
Inspired by disabled people’s activism and scholarship, Professor Goodley will explore the ways in which academics, researchers and research professional colleagues are depathologising the disablist and ableist university.
The presentation will draw on writing with Kirsty Liddiard and Rebecca Lawthom, as we reflect on practices as principal investigators and research leaders of two funded research projects; through the use of composite conversations (a unique methodological form experimental writing) – and explore (i) pushing back at university bureaucracy towards co-production; (ii) critically appropriating the performative university and (iii) enabling access as colleague.
Central to our argument is the idea that the very acts of depathologisation involve a frictional rubbing up against the performative and bureaucratic machinations of the university.
We hope you can join us.
Please note, this event is free to BELMAS members and £5.00 for non-members. To ensure you receive your free ticket, please log in on the BELMAS website before booking.
If you pay the non-member fee to attend and then become a BELMAS Member within a month of the event taking place, please let us know and we will refund the £5 fee.
Registration will close at midnight (UK) on Tuesday 17th June 2025.
Professor Dan Goodley
Professor of Disability Studies and Education,
University of Sheffield
Joining instructions will be sent out the day before the event, so please keep an eye on your inbox for these. We look forward to seeing you at the event!
We record our online events for sharing purposes on the BELMAS website and YouTube page. Please tick this box in your registration to acknowledge you are happy for us to record.
The Inclusion Leadership Research Interest Group hosted an event on Thursday 19th June 2025, entitled ‘The Depathologising University’.
The RIG’s Co-Convenors, Dr Beth Holmes, Dr Wendy Conrad and Dr Donnie Adams, were joined by guest speaker, Professor Dan Goodley, Professor of Disability Studies and Education in the University of Sheffield’s School of Education, who discussed his work in the field of Critical Disability Studies, and the ways in which academics, researchers and research professional colleagues are depathologising the disablist and ableist university.
If you missed this event or would like a recap, you can now watch it in full below.
Our thanks to the Inclusion Leadership RIG Co-Convenors for arranging this event, to our brilliant speaker, Professor Dan Goodley, for his stimulating presentation, and to everyone who joined us. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
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