This spring the Teaching Transformation and Development Academy is offering a UND-wide (faculty, GTAs, administration, and staff) book study on Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education? by Jay Timothy Dolmage.

As an institution, higher ed has a lot to learn about disability, be it visible or invisible. Dolmage asks us to consider our standard practices and unquestioned assumptions, highlighting the ways in which traditional academic structures can be inaccessible and discriminatory to students, faculty, and staff with disabilities. He also provides insight into how ableism manifests in classrooms and across campus, offering practical strategies for addressing and preventing that. Dolmage's goal is “to affirm disability as a shared and positive identity while challenging the use of disability as something that can be used to disqualify or stigmatize” (7).

We invite the campus community to join this conversation as we address physical, academic, and structural barriers that our students and colleagues face and implement UND's strategic vision for a more inclusive and welcoming future.

Academic Ableism Book Read Group Discussions, Launch and Wrap-up Registration.

Launch, Wednesday, February 15; 1:30-2:30 PM

This panel discussion will focus on the lived experience of members of the UND community, sharing their insights on ableism in academia.

Small group discussions during the weeks of March 6 and March 27

When you register you will pick a preferred facilitator, day/time, and modality (via Zoom or on campus).

Wrap-Up Thursday, April 13, 2-3:15 PM

This panel discussion will focus on our next steps as a campus community in addressing the obstacles presented by ableism.

Academic Ableism is open access, free from the publisher as a digital or audio download. Participants can choose either or both formats. Please register for the Book Read Group Discussions, Launch and Wrap-up.