Reforming, Reconstructing, Resisting in Special Education:
Strategies used by Disability Studies Scholars to inform and transform lives
and learning
Louisiana Tech University _ Ruston, Louisiana
19 – 21 February 2004
Disabilities Studies is an emerging interdisciplinary field of scholarship that critically examines issues related to the dynamic interplays between disability and various aspects of culture and society. As an academic discourse, it seeks to challenge dominant notions of disability with a view to supporting social change. According to Disabilities Studies’ scholar Rosmarie Garland-Thompson, “As with gender, race, sexuality: to understand how disability operates is to understand what it is to be fully human.”
"Reforming, Reconstructing, Resisting in Special Education: Strategies used
by Disability Studies Scholars to inform and transform lives and learning"
Proposals on this theme may address any of the following areas—a class, a course of study, a department within a college, or an entire field of study.
Special FeaturesThe Institute on Blindness has co-sponsored the 2nd City Conference for the last two years. Conference attendees voted to hold the 2004 conference in Ruston. The Institute on Blindness is a department in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University and is a joint venture between the University and the Louisiana Center for the Blind. In addition to the presentations on the conference theme, this year’s conference will feature a series of sessions designed for educators and students that are new to disability studies. These sessions will introduce participants to disability studies and its application to teachers and to their teaching. Faculty, teachers and students who are interested in exploring this emerging field are encouraged to register for these sessions. Opportunities will be made available to tour and interact with staff from the Louisiana Center for the Blind. The following is found on their website: Today, as never before, blind people are leading normal productive lives. There are many reasons... but one of the most important is the role that blind people are now playing in changing their own destiny. Through self-organization in the National Federation of the Blind, the blind are changing the course of services and programs for blind persons from traditional custodial approaches to innovative and exciting ones which stress self-sufficiency and independence. The LOUISIANA CENTER FOR THE BLIND is one of the leaders in a handful of these new programs. The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight. The real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of information which exists. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to only a physical nuisance |
The conference is open to professors, researchers, teachers, administrators, and students presenting individually or in groups. We will give consideration to theoretical papers, research papers, and particularly practical application papers. We encourage interpretive and critical inquiry. Presentation format is open, we encourage interactive and alternative presentation formats. As part of the conference, each presenter will be asked to participate in an informal interactive group discussion at the end of the day he or she presents.
Your proposal should include the following information:
All proposals must be postmarked or sent electronically by 14 November 2003
to:
Dr. Valerie Owen
National-Louis University
1000 Capitol Drive
Wheeling, IL 60090
vowen@nl.edu
Notification of acceptance will be by 10 December 2003.
All presenters will be expected to pay the $50.00 registration fee. Accommodations in Ruston will range from $55 – 65 for hotel rooms and $25 per night for shared accommodation in townhouses owned by the Louisiana Center for the Blind.
If you have questions, please contact:
Valerie Owen
vowen@nl.edu
(847) 465-0575 ext. 5049
or
Ron Ferguson
rjferg@latech.edu
(318) 257-2029