Civil Disabilities: Theory, Citizenship, and the Body

Tentative Schedule
Thursday, March 31 4:00-4:15 pm Greeting from Beth Linker, Department of History and Sociology of Science (University of Pennsylvania) Opening Remarks by Anita Allen, Deputy Dean and Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy (University of Pennsylvania), Presidential Commission for the study of Bioethical Issues 4:15-6:00 pm Session I: New Directions in Disability Theory

• Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Professor of Women’s Studies (Emory University) “Habitable Worlds: Eugenic Spaces and Democratic Spaces”
• Tobin Siebers, V. L. Parrington Collegiate Professor of Literary and Cultural Criticism (University of Michigan) “Disability Trouble”

Moderator: Nancy Hirschmann, R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Term Professor, Political Science (University of Pennsylvania) Commentator: Rogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Chair, Program on Constitutionalism, Citizenship and Democracy (University of Pennsylvania) 6:30-8:00 pm Reception and Dinner (at the LGBT Center) Invited Participants Only 8:00-9:30 pm Film Screenings and Presentation (at the LGBT Center)

• “‘How Do We Get All These Disabilities in Here?’: Disability Film Festivals and the Politics of Atypicality” David Mitchell, Associate Professor, Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology in Education (Temple University) Sharon Snyder, Independent Scholar

Moderator: Mara Mills, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication (New York University) Friday, April 1 8:00 am
Continental Breakfast-->8:30-10:15 am Session II: Disability and Citizenship in U.S. History

• Douglas Baynton, Professor of History (University of Iowa) “Handicapped in the Race for Life: The Transformation of Time, Disability, and American Immigration Law”
• Susan Burch, Director, Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity (Middlebury College) “Learning Disability: Institutions, Citizenship, and Identity in U.S. History”
• Keith Wailoo, Townsend Martin Professor of History and Public Affairs (Princeton University) “Between Liberal Medicine and Conservative Care: The Politics of Pain and Disability in America, 1950 to 2010”

Moderator: Chris Feudtner, Steven D. Handler Endowed Chair of Medical Ethics, Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania Commentator: Susan Lindee, Professor and Chair, History and Sociology of Science (University of Pennsylvania) 10:15-10:30 am Break 10:30-12:00 pm Session III: Visibility, Capability, and Cognitive Difference

• Lorella Terzi, Department of Education (Roehampton University, London) “Disability, Capability, Equality and Citizenship”
• Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology (New York University) and Rayna Rapp, Professor of Anthropology (New York University) “Disability and Visual Citizenship: Interocular Fields, Public Culture, and the Atypical Mind in the 21st Century”

Moderator: Art Caplan, Emmanuel and Robert Hart Director of the Center for Bioethics (University of Pennsylvania) Commentator: Vivian Gadsden, William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education, Graduate School of Education (University of Pennsylvania) 12:30-2:00 pm
Lunch workshop: Bringing Disability Studies to Penn
Moderator: Sigal Ben-Porath, Graduate School of Education (University of Pennsylvania)
Note: this event requires separate registration, as attendance is limited. Registration can be found here.12:30-2:30 pm Break 2:30-4:15 pm Session IV: Disability and Sexuality

• Robert McRuer, Professor of English (George Washington University) “Crip Citizenship: Neoliberalism, Affect, Intensity”
• Karen Nakamura, Professor of Anthropology (Yale University) “Disability, Destitution, and Disaster: Updates from the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown in Japan”
• Susan Schweik, Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities and Professor of English, (University of California, Berkeley) “Mangled and Torn: Civilians, Veterans, and Some Years of Our Lives”

Moderator: Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Department of History (University of Pennsylvania) Commentator: Heather Love, Department of English (University of Pennsylvania) 4:15-4:45 pm Closing Remarks by Nancy Hirschmann, R. Jean Brownlee Endowed Term Professor, Political Science (University of Pennsylvania)
-----
The conference is made possible by

• A Mellon Cross-Cultural Contacts Conference Grant
• The Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science

and the following schools, departments and programs at the University of Pennsylvania:

• The School of Medicine
• The Graduate School of Education
• The Department of the History and Sociology of Science
• The Department of Political Science
• The Annenberg School of Communication
• The School of Law
• The Department of English
• The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center
• The Cinema Studies Program
• The Department of History
• The Center for Bioethics
• The Women's Studies Program
• The Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing
• The Penn Humanities Forum
• The Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism
• The Department of Anthropology
• The Office of the Provost