.
Many thanks to Richard Meldrum for a well-considered and good-humoured
response on the topic; and to Sharon Snyder and Mike Gill for detailed
further elucidation of the state of play at UIC, from points viewpoints.
After seeing the brief outburst of "cries of anguish" on DS-Hum list,
starting with Mark Sherry on 5th May, I found it odd that no further news
emerged, and the present list carried no mention of the apparent UIC
shenanigans.
Discussion arose from J. Homan's post on a different thread, which focused
rather narrowly on a single student's difficulties choosing an essay topic.
It seemed useful to broaden the field of view, with a reminder that courses
rise and fall, and Dis.Stud. has reached its present point by the
determined efforts of some energetic people capturing ground and finance
from earlier possessors and would-be claimants. Dis.Stud. is not
automatically "there", for anyone to play with. My single sentence about
some possible "difficulties with the flagship Disability Studies at UIC"
etc was not intended to suggest that the ship was going down, but that it
is a currently contested area, a target, a prize, or at least a greasy
pole, a still attractive Bette Davis (R. Meldrum) or castle that
somebody thinks worth "undermining" (S.Snyder).
While browsing the UIC Dis.Stud. site for clues or storm warnings, it was
certainly interesting to note that interdisciplinarity has reached the
point where Dis.Stud. could appear to be a branch of English (that would
obviously be studied at a College of Applied Health Studies...!) This had
not previously occurred to me, and S.Snyder's explanation on the 'English'
front is therefore timely. To pursue the Othello metaphor would require a
deeper knowledge of the UIC dramatis personae, none of whom I have met.
(But maybe we can recognise a familiar type in Iago, who enters the scene
in a rage about being passed over for a job, in favour of some damned
number-cruncher who has never in his life got his hands dirty with any
practical work).
The idea that Dis.Stud. should take place in spaces that are safe for
students with or without disability, seems fairly obvious... except that a
few moments thought suggest that university campuses are inherently
dangerous places, especially in large countries like the USA or India,
where the population is at liberty to discuss flammable topics such as a
possible change of government, and where very sharp gradients exist between
richer and poorer members of the population. (Incidentally, since India
seems to have chosen, very peacefully and democratically, to be ruled once
again under a European queen, perhaps her new government should kindly
offer to supervise the next US presidential election, in order to secure a
more reliable count of the vote..?)
In the postmodern age, universities are highly privileged places that
promote the destruction of old or current formulations of knowledge, and
kick new formulations around the courtyard to see how they bounce. These
are violent actions (which, incidentally, generate a diffuse hatred among
the population at large which has an entirely different idea of what
universities are about). This is not to condone the abuse offered to
students at UIC - but let us not be naively surprised at it.
Universities are highly competitive places, which (to the best of my
knowledge) have practically never welcomed people with lower intellectual
abilities. There tend to be large quotas of disappointed people on every
campus, who feel that they have not achieved as much as others, and what
they have achieved has received less reward than others received, and less
than they deserved (rather than considering themselves immensely
privileged to have access to the modern knowledge game, even in a somewhat
hazardous environment, and smiling at the unequal dishing-out of trivial
rewards and fancy hats).
I don't have any solution to offer. I'm interested to learn more of how
things work in the formal and researched disability knowledge game, and the
directions they may be taking, and therefore appreciate the candour with
which several people have posted their observations.
m99m
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