I absolutely and completely agree, hence all the caveats in my previous e-mail. It is quite obvious, as I said, that the PhD system has far too many arbitrary parts attached to it. Having to produce it in written language, for instance; and of course, all the physical and mental access issues.
I agree with all of that. I completely agree with all of that. My point is that there are reasons - and NOT ALL OF THEM ARE ILLEGITIMATE - for why the academy has developed in the way that it has. Many need to be overturned - indeed, the whole structure of knowledge transfer needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. It is undoubtedly discriminatory. It undoubtedly has unfair barriers than need to be overcome. The question is how we do that.
I also completely agree that people shouldn't have to aspire to be inside the ivory tower. That wasn't my point. My point was that if people do, or want their work to have impact, it needs to communicate.
This is a two way process. The people in the tower also have to modify their behaviour if they want to be understood. The onus should clearly be far more on the latter than the former. But until that happens, we have a clear problem of practicalities to be overcome.
While the "normal" is given priority and gets to define "normal", of course we have problems and these need to be addressed. I can never and would never deny that. My point is how should this be done. My response to Larry was not to call him out or to say he was wrong, but merely to try and get a debate about how we can share knowledge in a more productive way.
I suppose on that front, at least, I succeeded.
Gareth Millward
PhD Student
Centre for History in Public Health
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
On 07/03/2013 21:45, Susanne Berg wrote:
> I wrote the text below earlier in anger and decided to let it sit in my outbox before I sent it off. Being disabled you tend to try to be reasonable, understanding and pedagogical - all in the pursuit of not ruffling feathers but allowing non-disabled folks or folks able to pass as non-disabled folks, do "the right thing" as if they thought about it themselves.
>
> However, I'm still angry and as, I've decided I don't really give 2 pence about what the academia think about me, I'm going to send it. Please feel free to block me or denounce me or whatever. I don't really give a monkey's arse at this point.
>
> Susanne
> ----
>
> I wasn't really going to comment on this list again but this really, really p..s me off.
>
> There are so incredibly many obstacles to academic studies for disabled people which have absolutely no connection what so ever with anything remotely to do with quality of analysis or merit of academic thought or course work. Below is just a few I personally have encountered or had friends encounter:
>
> Scholarships are so far i know - they could be changed lately but i doubt it - only available to students on full-time basis. This effectively excludes loads of people whose time is eaten up by disability related issues NOT in any way connected to academic work.
> If i want to study in the UK i cannot take my assistance allowance with me, neither my technical aids or anything else. at the same time the UK will most probably no provide me with direct payment as they will view me as a Swedish student i.e. Sweden's responsibility. I wonder how it works in the UK where direct payments are provided locally. What if you actually want to move across "the assessment border".
>
> I will also bet you a mountain of gold against a pile of horse manure that far from all localities are accessible, that books, articles etc are not available on Braille or tape without delay, that sign language interpreters are not available for every lecture - god forbid we count the seminars etc that you might be interested in apart from your course.
>
> All this and things like it is at the same time NOTHING compared to the real problems when the "normates" and the "adaptables" are asked to adapt their cosy little system of interaction, the way lectures are structured or course work are put forth for examination. I know full well the absolute wall you face when it's a question of accommodating someone "just that little bit too complicated" and exactly how nice it sounds when you refuse with argument connected to academic discipline.
>
> "The PhD and the post-doctoral study are not arbitrary. They show a) that one has the skills to contribute to the collective and b) that one is willing and able to collaborate with others to further the discipline."
>
> I would suggest that the skills necessary to contribute and the willingness to collaborate are always defined by the normalising majority.
> I'll give you a social model variant of this comment.
> How about the skills of the academic system to adapt to enable contribution without defining the borders of the collective before putting up the walls?
> How about the privileged collective's willingness to collaborate with others to further their discipline?
>
> Furthermore I'll give you a piece of my mind about the comment
> " Great breakthroughs have come from outsiders, and always will. But on some level, they still need to know enough of the language of the ivory tower to be able to get their message through the door."
>
> Maybe these great outsiders have a right to decide if they want to be outside or inside. Maybe the academic career - oh yea the status and the money too - could have some attraction. Maybe they have a right to be something more than just another disabled back to be used as a step ladder for those who manage to squeeze their corporeal frame through the door.
>
> Disability studies has come a long way since the days of Mike Oliver and Vic Finkelstein - not to mention Paul Abberley ... not in a productive and good manner.
>
> So to each one of you making your career on disabled peoples experience I ask today:
> What have you done to tear down obstacles for others so they can enjoy your privilege?
>
> And Gareth, for f..sake read Goffman and deduce something useful. And if not, at least be a little bit understanding of people who aren't capable of passing as "non-disabled" enough.
>
> Susanne Berg
> ........................
> Skarpnäcks Allé 41, 12833 Skarpnäck, Sweden
> hem 08 - 15 73 54
> mobil 070 - 515 7356
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Från: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] För Gareth Millward
> Skickat: den 7 mars 2013 17:19
> Till: [log in to unmask]
> Ämne: Re: New Disability Studies M.A.
>
> There are myriad problems with what I'm about to say. So, all the usual caveats about "truth", etc. apply.
>
> I appreciate that the culture of academia it is still a barrier to people who will not or cannot conform to its rules of behaviour and arbitrary conditions for entry which affect many queer and subaltern communities. But I feel like I at least have to offer some defence of the academy, because it's not as simple as you appear to be making out.
>
> The reason why Western education follows the path that it does is because it "disciplines" people. This is problematic, but it is also a strength. It allows people from the same or related disciplines to converse with each other in a common language. In my field, history, we don't expect students to read, produce essays, reference their sources, and think rationally and critically about texts for the sake of it; it's the key to the discipline. Work needs to be verifiable and needs to be written in a way in which it can be processed. This is restrictive, certainly; but I wonder (genuinely) how else any culture can operate. If we can't communicate with each other, then it makes all of our work redundant. We may have to adapt the ways in which we communicate, but we need common reference points. These will always discriminate against and exclude certain people. Again - how do we solve this? (This is a genuine, and intriguing open question.)
>
> In order to keep an institution running, certain barriers to entry have to be crossed to ensure people can converse with one another within that community. The PhD and the post-doctoral study are not arbitrary. They show a) that one has the skills to contribute to the collective and b) that one is willing and able to collaborate with others to further the discipline. Great breakthroughs have come from outsiders, and always will. But on some level, they still need to know enough of the language of the ivory tower to be able to get their message through the door.
>
> I know there are many, many problems with this. The PhD scheme, for example, is prohibitively expensive, and requires skills which are not necessarily central to producing, synthesising and sharing knowledge.
> However, I think we can get the Western academy to adapt better to the needs of those who it has excluded far better by engaging in the debate.
> Over the past 50 years, it has been far, far more willing to do this than many other areas of capitalist society.
>
> We all know our social models and queer theory. We all know the problems of academia. But we must also surely know that cultures like this don't just spring up arbitrarily. There is a reason why the academy behaves the way that it does. How should it change? I'm not asking this out of anger or spite - I'm genuinely intrigued to hear your thoughts.
>
> I'm naive, I know! I'm in a privileged position in being able to mould myself to adapt to their (our?) game. But to me, it just seemed these comments have been ridiculously reductive of the whole university system. You may well be right. But I like to have balance in a debate!
>
> Gareth
>
> Gareth Millward
> PhD Student
> Centre for History in Public Health
> London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
>
> On 07/03/2013 13:39, Larry Arnold wrote:
>> On a more serious point, is there a way of gaining a disability studies MA without actually studying? I am not talking about degree mills but whether it is possible for a minimum fee to sit exams, submit a dissertation or whatever based upon private knowledge and hitherto study without the overheads of tuition.
>>
>> Looking for some way of keeping my hand in when I complete my PhD later this year but without the exorbitant cost that has been "crippling" me these last 6 years.
>>
>> I'd love to find a post doctoral position, but it isn't on is it? me being me, and the specifications being what they are usually for a face that fits.
>>
>> Larry
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:DISABILITY-
>>> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Larry Arnold
>>> Sent: 07 March 2013 09:04
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: New Disability Studies M.A.
>>>
>>> Would I really have to go through all that palaver and expense? Why
>>> can't you just give it to me anyway, I am more than competent to
>>> teach there, but for the status quo. Oh I forgot, Universities are not about learning or knowledge, they have a living to make.
>>>
>>> Larry
>>>
>> y logging in to this web page.
>>
>> ________________End of message________________
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