Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through an Ability Studies Lens
The workshop looks at the various strands in ability studies and touches on the examination of ability-based expectations, judgments, norms, and conflicts to question irrelevant ability norms and “ability privileges”. Ability Studies is a useful lens for EDI as many of the EDI problems experienced are based on ability expectations, whereby disabled people are just one social group judged based on their abilities. The workshop is using anonymous polls as its interactive tool and provides some tools (BIAS FREE FRAMEWORK and ability exercises) one can use to rethink existing norms, policies, processes, and systems and it will offer the audience ways of thinking about how to bring change in their work environment and their everyday context.
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Knowledge Levels
Beginner, no background required
Duration
1 hour, 30 minutes
Audience
Open to campus community: students, senior/executive leaders, faculty, and staff
Core understanding of EDI
- What is attitudinal accessibility
- Conceptual framework Ability-based Studies
- Ability based studies concepts e.g.
- Ableism
- Disablism
- Internalized ableism
- Internalized disablism
- Enablism
- Ability judgments beyond disabled people
- EDI challenges: Who are the disabled people/people with disabilities? And how many are there
- EDI Challenges linked to different ability based concepts
- EDI Practice: How to become an ability based enablist and anti-disablist
New learnings
- Explore EDI issues through an Ability Studies lens
- Enhance your knowledge of Ability Studies concepts and the ways they shape lived experiences.
- Identify issues, processes, and practices through an ableism lens.
- Apply your learning to think about EDI through an ability studies lens in your role at the University.
Facilitator
Dr. Gregor Wolbring (he/him)
Dr. Gregor Wolbring is a tenured full Professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, Program in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. He is presently also a member of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe, Germany and a senior fellow of the Institute for Science, Policy and Society, University of Ottawa, Canada.
Dr. Wolbring defines himself as an ability studies, disability studies, sustainability studies and science and technology governance studies scholar and wheelchair user since his youth.
It’s our collective responsibility to create a more equitable and inclusive UCaglary and we all have an important role to play by learning and unlearning.
Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD
Vice Provost (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and Associate Vice-President Research (EDI)