By SHANNON O. WELLS
The roots of the third-annual “Creating a Culture of Access” series, presented by the Dietrich School of Arts & Science’s Writing Institute, can be traced to the book “Academic Ableism” by Jay Dolmage.
Series curator Jessie Male, disability studies consultant in the Dietrich School, said the book “has been central to thinking about how disability is navigated in higher education.”
Male said Pitt’s Jean Grace, director of the Institute for Writing Excellence, suggested inviting Dolmage to the Pitt campus, and the series “took off from there.”
“So far, we have brought 14 scholars and creative writers to the Pitt community,” Male said.
What started as a hybrid in-person/virtual event turned into all-virtual in 2024 and continues this year to expand access. “We’ve had people join us virtually from around the world,” she noted.
Male, who started at Pitt in 2022 as the postdoctoral associate in disability studies through the Writing Institute, has continued at the University as a Pitt Writing Center consultant and part-time faculty member. As accessibility consultant, she continues to develop the “Creating a Culture of Access” series.
Male took time out from preparing for the event kickoff on Jan. 17 to talk to the University Times.
University Times: What are you excited about/looking forward to for this year’s series? Is there a particular theme for this year’s event?
Jessie Male: Honestly, I’m just very excited for all of it. The five people who are joining us this year cover a broad range of perspectives and areas of expertise. That’s always very important. Disability Studies is a highly interdisciplinary field, and its relationship to writing is central to the series.
A central question at the core of the series (is) What is deemed as “normal” ways of communicating, and how does disability expand possibilities of communication? This question contrasts many assumptions and representations of disability.
To give each participant a shout out:
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Stephanie Kerschbaum will be discussing her most recent book, “Signs of Disability.” Her work has been so important in the field of Rhetoric and Composition. This new book explores the “everyday” encounters people have with disability.
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Grace Talusan is a memoirist who will be joining us as a workshop leader for those interested in exploring, through writing, the relationship between disability and the creative process. Her memoir, “The Body Papers,” is a brilliant interrogation of the archival process, and the body as archive.
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Hailee Yoshizaki-Gibbons’ work with elderly people, especially elderly people with dementia, is a vital interrogation of the intersections between ableism and ageism.
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Moya Bailey’s "A Black Feminist Disability Framework" is quintessential reading. In addition, her work on digital activism aligns with the many ways disabled activists are developing/solidifying community through digital spaces.
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Ellen Samuels is both a creative writer and a disability studies scholar. Her work is a model for those interested in hybrid creative/scholarly writing. Her heavily cited article "Six Ways of Looking at Crip Time" addresses the ways time can be amorphous and non-linear, especially when moving through the world as a disabled person. Her workshop will be based on her most recent book, “Hypermobilities.”
UTimes: How are the speakers/authors/facilitators chosen?
Male: Speakers/workshop leaders are all actively participating in conversations — in academia, in activist circles, in creative spaces — about how disability is represented, constructed and lived. Some have participated in the series through colleague recommendation, others I’ve interacted with at conferences and literary events. Some led workshops I’ve attended, and others wrote books and articles that I’ve read/taught, and I crossed my fingers and cold-emailed (them).
As curator of the series, I always ensure there is a mix of early-career and senior scholars. Some are tenured or tenure track, but we also have presenters who are non-tenure track, adjuncts or who have left academia entirely. Some base their presentations on published articles, and others on their third book.
UTimes: What does a “culture of access” at Pitt mean to you? Do you see progress happening toward this?
Male: A culture of access means an overall commitment to the well-being and safety of our community members. This is everything from ensuring all students have access to counseling services they might need, to having classrooms that are accessible to students and faculty who use mobility devices to ensuring access to health care and a living wage for graduate students. This is all a “culture” of access.
A culture of access is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. It means thinking beyond the retrofit model, for example, a teacher receiving an accommodation letter from Disability Resources and then making adjustments, but (also) thinking about what can be anticipated and adapted to make spaces more accessible. … It means also acknowledging there are lots of reasons why students might not have access to resources that enable them to receive a diagnosis that enables them to receive services.
A culture of access also doesn’t place all the responsibilities on instructors to anticipate every need, or students to self-identify as disabled. … It’s collaborative, and it is a long-term investment.
UTimes: What is the relationship between the one-credit seminar you direct, and this series?
Male: The one-credit class meets the Friday after each event and is an opportunity for graduate students (and faculty if they’d like to participate) to discuss the workshop/presentation and bring it into conversation with their own scholarship.
This year, the one-credit class consists of graduate students in (the departments of) English, Philosophy, Biology, Musicology, Education, and Social Work, which aligns with the interdisciplinary nature of Disability Studies.
UTimes: What are some highlights of previous Creating a Culture events?
Male: Every event has had powerful moments. Mimi Khúc’s close out of last year’s series was certainly a highlight. Her book “dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss,” addresses academic trauma and resonated deeply with many audience members. She read her essay "Writing While Adjunct: A Contingent Pedagogy of Unwellness," from the anthology “Crip Authorship,” which was very helpful to many who struggle to write while existing in academic precarity. She acknowledges the way academia — like many institutions — actively makes us unwell.
I’d like to think this series helps counter that very real truth. Oftentimes disabled students, faculty members and other members of the community experience isolation, and this series is a space to gather, discuss and connect … It’s a space for solidarity and community building.
Something I often say is "disability is creative possibility" and each of the speakers and their projects demonstrate this in unique, exciting ways.
UTimes: What parts of the Pitt community does it tend to attract? Would you like to see a broader swath of students or faculty members taking part?
Male: I’d say the majority of attendees at events are graduate students and part-time/non-tenure-track faculty members. However, we’ve also had undergraduate students, administrators, tenured faculty and staff. When speakers grant permission, we’ve opened up events to people outside of the Pitt community, and we’ve had audience members from across the globe.
One of the advantages of virtual events is the ability for people to join wherever they are at. And I mean that in terms of their physical location but also wherever they are in their academic life and also in their “bodymind,” a term which acknowledges the ways our physical being and our cognitive being are not siloed. There are audience members who join from their beds, if that is the best place for them to participate.
Which is all to say, any and all people can join. The best way to keep track of events is by joining the Creating a Culture of Access mailing list.
I just want to add that it isn’t too late to register for the class, if there are graduate students who are interested in joining us. And I encourage people to reach out to me if they have any questions.
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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