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As a professor at Hunter College at the City University of NY we have 2 faculty members who identify as disabled [I being one of them]-the other 2 do so when pushed-disabled academics throughout CUNY are few in # and don't seem to want to get together for whatever reason-usually it comes down to fear-or would rather not identify with disability studies but would rather identify with the discipline they received their degree in- I don't know why such a distinction is made????????? Generally these people are not active in the disability rights movement either-I'm sure there's the connection-or at least one of them. Faculty from Black and Puerto Rician Studies have been overheard saying I teach Black History in Black Studies Department. Even though Hunter doesn't have a DS Dept. or prog. I've yet to hear a dis. or non-dis. faculty member state I teach "X" course with a disability perspective or as a disabiliy studies course. Your thoughts? Phyllis On Tue, 19 Oct 1999, natasha kraus wrote: > Mairian wrote: > > > >In the PUBLIC domain, the cultural production of the field of Disability > >Studies is primarily defined by its texts, and publications are also a mark > >of status in the academy. I've asked this question before and people > >continously avoid it. How many substantial, sole-authored texts in > >Disability Studies in the USA are written by disabled academics, what is > >the balance of disabled/non-disabled contributors in edited collections, > >and how often is disabled people's writing used for illustrative purposes > >rather than allowed to stand in its own right? In terms of book sales, > >which books sell the most? I think that if you tot up the figures, you > >might understand why I agree with Simi. I worry about people who take on > >the cause of disabled people's inequality but at the same time appear to > >want to justify and perpetuate the institutionalised culture of inequality > >in the academy. That seems to be more inconsistent than anything I've said > >so far. > > The problem here is that no actual counting could occur at this historical > juncture because you're assuming either visible disability or complete > disclosure by those with invisible or mental disabilities, neither of which > is necessarily critical for participation in and commitment to a movement, > struggle, or community. Within the academy's politics of tenure, and with > the very lack of popular understandings of disability that currently exist > (which is exactly what is being struggle over and against), many disabled > academics may choose not to 'out' themselves until after passing the tenure > bar, even while actively participating in and supporting disability > communities, struggles, and movements. The ethics of this can be debated > from many sides. The logic, however, of practicality is probably clear to > all. > Natasha Kraus > > > Natasha Kirsten Kraus > Assistant Professor > Department of Sociology > 430 Park Hall > Box 604140 > University at Buffalo-SUNY > Buffalo, NY 14260-4140 > [log in to unmask] > (716)645-2417 x 457 > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%