I’m intellectually curious and desire to never stop learning. I consistently think of ways our world could be more inclusive and equitable, while my biggest passions in life are accessibility and research— and sharing that with everyone I know :)
As an interdisciplinary field, disability studies encompasses medicine, technology, history, literature, religion, theater, philosophy, women’s studies, activism, bioethics, and more.
Emerging in the 1980s, disability studies arose through activism involving rights-based, social-justice-influenced, knowledge-building and disseminating initiatives. Anyone who lives long enough will experience disability stigma and oppression, and therefore has a responsibility to be cognizant of disability as a lived, social experience. In other words, disability rights and policies are everyone’s business.
The undergraduate Disability Studies Initiative (uDSI) is part of Emory University's larger Disability Studies Initiative (DSI). I created uDSI in 2014 to promote more undergraduate involvement in disability studies at Emory University and in the metro-Atlanta area.
Both DSI and uDSI are working groups dedicated to interdisciplinary conversations related to disability. We are interested in the social, cultural, historical, political, and legal dimensions of disability and accessibility in our world. Our mission is to promote the growth and increase the profile of Disability Studies at Emory University.
Students at a weekly uDSI meeting
uDSI has been involved in important work, including creating an accessibility assessment for the 2015 Society for Disability Studies conference, which was held in downtown Atlanta. Members of uDSI spent several days downtown collect important data by talking with local residents, restaurant workers, and shop owners to gauge accessibility in various environments. We considered things like the grade of hills, the presence of curb cuts, the availability of accessible pedestrian signals, the width of doorways, the height of sinks in accessible restrooms, the weight of silverware, and so on.
Former Emory President, James W. Wagner, signing the ASL petition created by uDSI and talking with Sam.
Under my leadership, uDSI was actively involved in working to make Emory a more accessible and inclusive space. Starting in 2016, uDSI spearheaded a campaign to bring accredited American Sign Language (ASL) courses to Emory. We created a petition, amassing over 1,100 online signatures and several hundred paper signatures, garnering enough attention to be approached by our local NPR affiliate.
Aside from community outreach, uDSI was often invited to various classes at Emory to help spread awareness through guest lectures and presentations. Additionally, in 2016 I was invited to give a TED Talk at TEDx Emory on the importance of bringing ASL to Emory.