When Disability Is the Norm, Not the Exception, with Professor Tom Shakespeare
Join us for a presentation and discussion with Professor Tom Shakespeare, renowned sociologist and bioethicist and Professor of Disability Research with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Disability is widely thought to be unusual, rare or special. Yet 15-20 percent of the population could be said to be disabled, and the proportion increases with ageing, and will further increase due to population ageing. This suggests we should update our view of what it means to be human, and our expectation of participation in society. Tom’s forthcoming novel, The Ha-ha (Farrago 2024), has a central character who is disabled, but his difference is normalized, In contrast to traditional depictions of disability as different and incapable. What would it mean for literature, and everyday life, if we treated disability as ordinary, rather than unexpected?
Find Tom Shakespeare's home page here (link).
Find the CSUSB Disability Lecture Series Homepage and learn about past and upcoming events here (link). Series organizers are CSUSB Professors Jessica Luck, Tiffany Jones, Jeremy Murray, and Jess Nerren.