Hello Mark,
Apologies for the delay in replying but I have been away.
Thank you for your comments re the question.
Indeed, the question is not designed to imply reluctance but to highlight just such differences that you note.
Indeed, the return question could be why has Cultural Studies not actively sought engagement with Disability Studies given that there is work out there from a cultural perspective. Again I think the historical reasons, differences in theoretical approaches and personal interests and political aims of the founders of each discipline do have a lot to do with this.
Having returned to academia 4 yrs ago I came across Disability Studies because my PhD is on Autobiographies by People with Autism however, discovering Disability Studies, the social model and all the vibrant yet disparate work in the cross over of Disability Studies and Cultural Studies (I teach on CS at LJMU) I was suprised of its lack of visibility on the HE curriculum. This is one of the issues that the CDSRN want to address by creating an identifiable pool of work to bring the tenets of Disability Studies out to other disciplines and to encourage research that works within an emancipatory paradigm. Likewise we wish to be in a position to enhance the critical tools available to constructively criticise work that does not meet this criteria.
Indeed it is similar experiences that have prompted David Bolt et. al. to found the Journal of Literary Disability.
Hope this helps to clarify our position and intentions.
Best wishes,
Irene.
Mark Priestley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Irene
A very welcome initiative (and I know that my colleague Stuart Murray in
the English department at Leeds and colleagues in History are actively
engaged with this area). I was however intrigued by the question...
'Why has British Disability Studies been reluctant to engage
culturally?'
I think it's probably true that researchers in social sciences have been
more numerous in developing disability studies in Britain, and there has
probably been more prominence by liberal arts researchers involved in
the US, but I'm not sure there's necessarily 'reluctance' implied. I
think it's more to do with people's own disciplinary knowledge and
skills, possibly also connected with different theoretical models or
academic traditions more generally in the two countries.
Hope it goes well today and I look forward to reading about the results
:o)
Best wishes
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: The Disability-Research Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Irene Rose
Sent: 18 April 2007 11:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: CFP: Emerging Fields: Developing a British Cultural Disability
Studies (25/04/07; 26/05/07-27/05/07)
Hello Listmembers,
Thought I would post this just in case you haven't seen it elsewhere.
If you wish to come and contribute, a title and brief outline will
suffice to submit for consideration.
Best wishes,
Irene Rose
"Emerging Fields: Developing a British Cultural Disability Studies"
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th May 2007 Liverpool John Moores University
Inaugural Conference of the Cultural Disability Studies Research Network
Disability Studies is a broadly interdisciplinary field that
encompasses the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
However, British Disability Studies has thus far included the latter
two at the expense of the former. The inaugural conference of the
Cultural Disability Studies Research Network seeks to explore the
merits and challenges of including the humanities in the growing
academic discourse surrounding disability. It aims to introduce and
examine the positioning and development of the disparate fields which
are currently pursuing a Cultural Disability Studies agenda and
provide a much needed forum for debating future developments.
Papers are invited that consider questions such as: * Why has
British
Disability Studies been reluctant to engage culturally? * What are
the merits and challenges of including the humanities in the growing
academic discourse surrounding disability? * How are existing
disciplines engaging with 'disability'? * How helpful is the social
model as a rhetorical strategy? * What lessons can we learn from US
scholars in this area? * What are the merits and challenges of
including disability in the humanities' curriculum? * What is the
future of a British Cultural Disability Studies? We encourage
scholarship on the intersections possible with (and within) the topic
of disability, areas of disability activism and the academic arena of
Disability Studies: * disability and medical/scientific
discourse; * the history of race and disability; * disability and
queerness; * law and disability rights; * disability and class; *
literary theory and disability * post-colonialism and disability; *
feminism and
disability; * media practice and disability; * art history and
disability; * disability culture and disability studies; * identity
politics and disability politics; The conference aims to be as
inclusive as possible and contributors are invited to interpret the
themes broadly. Titles, abstracts for papers (250 words) or
expressions of interest with a brief biography are invited for
submission by Friday 27th April 2007. Papers from postgraduate
students are especially welcome. For further details please
contact: Irene Rose [log in to unmask]
Rebecca Mallet [log in to unmask] or
Claire Molloy [log in to unmask]
c/o MCCA, Dean Walters Building, LJMU, Liverpool, L1 7BR.
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