Disability, Avoidance and the Academy

Disability is a widespread phenomenon, indeed a potentially universal one as life expectancies rise. Within the academic world, it has relevance for all disciplines yet is often dismissed as a niche market or someone else’s domain. This collection explores how academic avoidance of disability studies and disability theory is indicative of social prejudice and highlights, conversely, how the academy can and does engage with disability studies.

This innovative book brings together work in the humanities and the social sciences, and draws on the riches of cultural diversity to challenge institutional and disciplinary avoidance. Divided into three parts, the first looks at how educational institutions and systems implicitly uphold double standards, which can result in negative experiences for staff and students who are disabled. The second part explores how disability studies informs and improves a number of academic disciplines, from social work to performance arts. The final part shows how more diverse cultural engagement offers a way forward for the academy, demonstrating ways in which we can make more explicit the interdisciplinary significance of disability studies – and, by extension, disability theory, activism, experience, and culture.

Disability, Avoidance and the Academy: Challenging Resistance will interest students and scholars of disability studies, education studies and cultural studies.

Dr David Bolt is Associate Professor of Disability and Education at Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom. He completed his PhD in 2004 at the University of Staffordshire. He has authored, edited, and guest edited numerous works about disability, literary representation, culture, language, and education.

Dr Claire Penketh is Principal lecturer in Disability and Education at Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom. She completed her PhD in 2010 at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has authored work on disability, art education, policy, and culture.