Inaugural Annual SSD EDI Lecture – Focus on Disability
Join us for an inspiring evening delving into the heart of disability justice and culture with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Professor of English and Bioethics at Emory University.

You are warmly invited to join us, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey, Chief Diversity Officer Professor Tim Soutphommasane, and Head of the Social Sciences Division Professor Tim Power at the Social Sciences Division’s Inaugural EDI lecture.

Professor Garland-Thomson is a renowned US-based author, educator, and thought leader. She will speak about her pioneering work to develop the field of critical disability studies and to bring disability culture, access, and justice to a broad range of institutions and communities. Her lecture will cover a diverse array of topics relevant to disability, ranging from disability and artistic creation to euthanasia and selective foetal testing.

Professor Garland-Thomson’s 2016 op-ed about her own experiences ‘Becoming Disabled’, was the inaugural article in a weekly series in the New York Times. She recently co-edited the series into a collection, About Us: Essays from the Disability Series, which captures the voices of a community that has for too long been stereotyped and misrepresented. About Us offers intimate stories of how those with disabilities navigate a world not built for them.

Her work claims a space in which people with disabilities can be seen and heard as they are – not as others perceive them.

Now, she brings her wealth of experience to our event, alongside a distinguished discussant, Professor Jonathan Herring of Oxford’s Law Faculty, whose work focusses on how the law interacts with “the important things in life: not money, companies or insurance; but love, friendship and intimacy”. His current projects include a co-edited collection on the philosophy of disability law.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a transformative conversation that seeks to challenge perceptions and ignite change.
Date: 6 June 2024, 17:30 (Thursday, 7th week, Trinity 2024)
Venue: Weston Library, Broad Street OX1 3BG
Speakers: Professor Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Professor Jonathan Herring (Oxford Law Faculty)
Organising department: Social Sciences Division
Organiser contact email address: diversity@socsci.ox.ac.uk
Host: Prof Nandini Gooptu (University of Oxford)
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://forms.office.com/e/x3bdGNNM7y
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Elisha Ward