Disability & Life Writing: A Conference
Fri, Apr 4, 2025
10:00 AM–5:00 PM
This hybrid conference will be held in-person in the Martin E. Segal Theatre, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, NYC and Online via Zoom. Please Register to attend. ASL interpretation will be available.
Join our us for “Disability & Life Writing: A Conference” hosted by our friends from the M.A. Program in Biography & Memoir for this first-of-its-kind event on April 4, 2025, to be held at the Martin E. Segal Theatre at the CUNY Graduate Center and via Zoom.
La Marr Jurelle Bruce writes of his own disability exploration as “a procession without end, without rest, without closure,” as “always in process, always awake, always open.” In addition to an efflorescence of recent scholarship on disability studies, life writing has been central to this “procession” with works addressing issues related to disability justice, intersectional experience, destabilizing stigma, and expanding popular conversations about disability and chronic illness.
This interdisciplinary and hybrid one-day conference will be devoted to addressing individual lives, lived experiences, and the social experiences of disability and chronic illness through all forms of life expressions. With two roundtables and a conversation with renowned research scientist and MacArthur fellow Joshua Miele, the conference will address the subjective experience of disability, matters of social vulnerability and equality, and possibilities of social change affected by life writing.
Registration:
Online: To register for the Virtual conference, click here.
In-Person: To register for the In-Person conference, click here.
SCHEDULE:
All events will be held in the Martin E. Segal Theatre and via Zoom.
Registration
9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks
10:15 am to 10:30 am
Roundtable: Crip Craft and Kinships across the Disciplines
10:30 am to 12 p.m.
(Moderated by Andrew Marcum) Atara Ellenberg, Morgan Goode, Alyssa Hanley, Weldon Lam, Lindsay Muscato, Keith Rosenthal
Lunch Break
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
For on-campus dining options, visit Location/Logistics.
Roundtable: Disability & Life Writing: Speaking of, Speaking from, Speaking for
1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.(Moderated by Julia Miele Rodas) Macael Bowles, JD Davids, Sonia Gonzalez, Lisa Napoli, Mathew Rodriguez
Six writers speak to the significance of disability in their ongoing memoir projects, as a central feature, as a glittering thread, as an inescapable but elusive presence in their written lives. Participants will alternately read short fragments from their work-in-progress and engage one another in conversation around the ways we choose to unfold or contain disability in our own life writing, exploring experiences of psychiatric disability and addiction, parent-child disability relationships, interpersonal violence, sexual celebration, and, persistently, questions of representational ethics.
Break
2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Connecting Dots: Joshua Miele in conversation with Georgina Kleege
3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Joshua Miele, blind scientist, designer, activist, and MacArthur Award winner talks with celebrated blind life writer Georgina Kleege about Dr. Miele’s newly released memoir, Connecting Dots: A Blind Life. The two will discuss highlights from the book, the challenges of composing disability for a mainstream audience, and how Dr. Miele navigated the process of writing collaboratively.
View Participant Bios here.
Accessibility:
If you have any concerns or need assistance, contact the organizers at [email protected] at least a week in advance.
Auditory
- ASL interpretation and automated captioning will be available at all sessions.
- The Martin E. Segal Theatre has Assistive Listening Systems that can work with headsets or neck loops.
Chemical Sensitivities
- Please refrain from wearing perfume, cologne, aftershave, or other fragranced personal care products.
COVID-19
- Masks are strongly encouraged, but not required.
Handouts
- If provided by presenters, handouts will be accessible for download via the Conference website, or by emailing [email protected].
Mobility
- The Martin E. Segal Theatre is located on the first floor of the GC. The northernmost set of doors to enter the Graduate Center are automated and have a ramp.
- Dedicated priority seating areas is available for wheelchair or scooter users.
- Elevators are clearly marked.
- All restrooms and event spaces are accessible.
Quiet Room
- A Quiet Room is available on the 5th floor in Room 5400. Take the main elevators and look for direction signs or ask for assistance at the Information Desk in the Martin E. Segal Theatre.
Visit the Disability & Life Writing Conference website here for more information about this event.
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