Just a few updates

A lot is happening this semester, so I wanted to make a quick blog post.

Technology & Disability: A Textbook

Our group’s work on open access pedagogical materials (through the CAREER grant) is really coming along very nicely. We have the content with students working on layout and finishing touches, as well as working in Pressbooks with VT Libraries to see how some of this content will look. We have a few more interviews for the materials, and we have some art in the works too. I can’t wait to share this, probably in May or June. We hope these materials will be useful for class discussion or just individual exploration too.

Against Technoableism

My book, Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement, will come out with Norton in September 2023. It now is available for preorder.

Jamming Away

My colleague Elizabeth McLain, who will be organizing the arts and performance part of our Just Dis Tech Mellon Grant, is in touch with a number of performing artists for residencies between Virginia Tech and UNC-Charlotte over the next three years. I’ve gotten to sit in on a few meetings, and am just awed by some of the people she’s in conversation with right now! Can’t wait to announce some of these!

Disability-Led Tech Consulting

If you are disabled and in the New River Valley area of Virginia or along the I-77 corridor between Charlotte and Blacksburg or in this region, we would love to have you add yourself to our email list for people who might be interested in events, workshops, trainings, and potential tech consulting opportunities (paid).

Still Teaching

My department is letting me run an Advanced Topics course on Critical Disability and Technology Studies this semester, and so getting to enjoy more book-length and critical work on technology and disability than the STS 3284: Tech & Disability class. Here is our STS 4304 schedule of readings for those who might be interested in reading along from home. There’s such a wealth of material for a class like this now, and it’s great to get to read and discuss with this group. This week has us reading Sara Novic’s novel True Biz alongside Jaipreet Virdi’s historical work Hearing Happiness and Laura Mauldin’s ethnographic work Made to Hear. I can’t wait!