Twelfth Annual Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion & Disability: <http://ada.osu.edu/conferences.htm>
Experience Understood in Image, Poetry, Narrative and Research
April 24 - 25, 2012
Held on The Ohio State University's Columbus Campus
Presentation proposals are due December 5th, 2011 <http://ada.osu.edu/conferences/2012Conf/2012callforpapers.html>
During the course of packing for an office move this summer I came across a worn copy of Knots by R.D. Laing, an existential psychiatrist who influenced the development of the Antipsychiatry movement. The book reflects Laing's struggle to find a balance between the different types of knowledge gained from the clinical, theoretical and statistical mediation of individual experience with the understandings engendered by direct experience and art. In the introduction to Knots Laing described his effort:
"... I could have remained closer to the 'raw' data in which these patterns appear. I could have distilled them further towards an abstract logico-mathematical calculus. I hope they are not so schematized that one may not refer back to the very specific experiences from which they derive; yet that they are sufficiently independent of 'content', for one to divine the final formal elegance in these webs of maya."
The dynamic tension and synergy between the art and science of disability inspired the theme for this year's conference. "Experience Understood in Image, Poetry, Narrative and Research" is meant to reach across disciplines, professions and modes of knowing for a fuller understanding of disability as we continue our twelve year exploration of disability as a reflection of the human condition seen through the lenses environmental, theoretical and social constructs as well as personal experience. Presentations are selected to encourage conversations across the typical boundaries (medical and social, education and employment, research and practice, business and government, rights and charity ...) or focus on the parallels, distinctions and intersections with race, gender and ethnicity.
In addition to the concurrent session this year's conference will have four keynote events that are open to the public. The tentative list of public events include:
Stephen Kuusisto presenting the Ethel Louise Armstrong Lecture on Disability Culture and Art
Stephen Kuusisto is an author, poet, disability advocate, and director of Syracuse University's Renée Crown University Honors Program where he is also a University Professor of Disability Studies. Professor Kuusisto, who has been blind since birth, is the author of Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening and the acclaimed memoir Planet of the Blind, a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year." He has also published Only Bread, Only Light, a collection of poems from Copper Canyon Press. Recognized by the New York Times as "a powerful writer with a musical ear for language and a gift for emotional candor," Steve has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline NBC, National Public Radio and the BBC. He speaks widely on diversity, disability, education, and public policy. His essays and poems have appeared in many anthologies and literary magazines including Harper's' The New York Times Magazine; Poetry; and Partisan Review. He is currently working on a collection of prose poems for Copper Canyon Press entitled "Mornings With Borges" as well as a collection of political poems about disability.
Nira, Steve's guide dog, is a distinguished graduate of Guiding Eyes for the Blind (https://www.guidingeyes.org/). She is a $45,000 guide dog and has received two full years of training at Guiding Eyes' national headquarters in Yorktown Heights, NY.
To read excerpts of Stephen Kuusisto's poetry, essays, blog posts and more visit http://www.stephenkuusisto.com/
LeDerick Horne presenting The Ohio State University's President and Provost's Diversity Lecture and Performance Series
As a child, LeDerick Horne believed he did not have much of a future. But despite being classified as neurologically impaired in the third grade, LeDerick has become a successful spoken word poet, playwright, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and advocate.
Using his gift for spoken word poetry as a teaching tool, LeDerick has been recognized across the country as a motivational speaker and advocate for people with disabilities. After graduating with honors from New Jersey City University in 2003 with a BA in Mathematics and a minor in Fine Art, LeDerick released Rhyme Reason and Song (2005), an album of his poetry set to music, and he co-created and performed in New Street Poets, a spoken word play addressing gentrification's effect on urban culture. The play was first staged in 2005 at the Tony Award winning Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. New Street Poets received great critical acclaim at the New York City International Fringe Festival in 2007, and is currently touring throughout the northeast.
LeDerick has presented to groups from the students and faculty at Harvard University to the youth and staff at correctional facilities. His message addresses increasing confidence, academic performance, self-determination, and self-advocacy by challenging conventional teaching styles and asking his audience to look beyond negative labels.
LeDerick is currently the board chair of Project Eye-to-Eye (projecteyetoeye.org), a national nonprofit which provides mentoring programs for students labeled LD/ADHD. He is also working on his second collection of poetry called Black and Blue which will be released in the spring of 2011. He is collaborating with the writers of New Street Poets to develop a spoken word play called Commencement which addresses the stereotypes that shape our education system. LeDerick has facilitated workshops, delivered keynote presentations, and spoken to thousands of students, teachers, and service providers about his experiences.
You can sample LeDerick Horne's poetry on iTunes <http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/black-and-blue/id435506737> and find out more about his life and work at http://www.lederick.com/
Marilyn Bartlett presenting the Ken Campbell Lecture on Disability Policy
Marilyn Bartlett began her career in education as a kindergarten teacher in a Montessori preschool in Munich, Germany, in 1970 She received her first academic appointment in 1980 as an assistant professor in Educational Leadership at Long Island University and later became a school assistant superintendent in Vermont before attending Vermont Law School.
After law school she served as an associate in a Manhattan as a law firm before returning to academia in 1994, as an associate professor at Dowling College where she co-authored their doctoral program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. In 1999, she joined New York Institute of Technology as the director of graduate studies where she designed a post-master's program in Educational Leadership and Technology. In 2004, she became an associate professor at the University of South Florida. She was appointed Dean of the College of Education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 2008 where she continues as faculty. Dr. Bartlett is well published and presents locally, nationally, and internationally on topics of educational law but many know her as the law school graduate with a reading and learning disability who was refused accommodations on the bar exam and became the plaintiff in Bartlett v. New York State Board of Law Examiners <http://lw.bna.com/lw/19980929/979162.htm> .
In the District Court decision, Judge Sotomayor described Ms. Bartlett and her learning disability:
"For those of us for whom words sing, sentences paint pictures, and paragraphs create panoramic views of the world, the inability to identify and process words with ease would be crippling. Plaintiff, an obviously intelligent, highly articulate individual, reads slowly, haltingly and laboriously. She simply does not read in the manner of an average person ...
Despite this impairment, plaintiff obtained a Ph.D. in educational administration and a law degree. By virtue of superior effort and not a small amount of courage, Marilyn Bartlett has been able to succeed academically and professionally despite the limitations that her impairment has placed upon her."
The Ethel Louise Armstrong Student Poster Competition & Reception
To show case disability related research and service conducted by students and to provide an opportunity to network with professionals, the community, and scholars who share their interests in disability the Multiple perspective conference hosts an annual student poster reception. Posters take a variety of forms including traditional printed poster on poster board or display panels or arranged on a table; PowerPoint presentations, web pages or video presentations presented on laptops and artwork. A generous gift from the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation funds awards for Graduate Research - $500; Undergraduate Research $200, Art & Performance $200 and Community Service $100, Class Projects $200 at this year's competition.
More about the 2012 Multiple Perspectives Conference:
* Proposals are due December 5th, 2011 http://ada.osu.edu/conferences/2012Conf/2012callforpapers.html
* Student Poster Submissions are Due no later than March 12, 2012 http://ada.osu.edu/conferences/2012Conf/studentposter.html
* To be on the mailing list for the conference, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
* Conference updates and past programs can be found at: http://ada.osu.edu/conferences.htm.
The Multiple Perspectives Conference is made possible in part through the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation Endowment Fund and ongoing support from The Ohio State University's Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
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