Disrupting Music Education: Disability as "an Ingenious Way to Live"
Thursday, April 27, 2023 - Saturday, April 29, 2023
Disability is not a brave struggle or courage in the face of adversity.
Disability is an art. It's an ingenious way to live. (Marcus, 1993)
The 3rd Biennial International Disability Studies and Music Education Symposium (DSandME23) explores how disability and lived experiences of disabled persons/persons with disabilities* provide opportunities to productively disrupt music pedagogy (e.g., Shakespeare, 2014). Disruption functions as a way to become conscious of ableism** within structures and practices in music education (Rathgeber & bell, forthcoming). As Neil Marcus reminds us, disability both necessitates creativity, and is itself a site of creativity (Marcus, 1993; Keifer-Boyd, 2017). Disruption, then, can be an invitation to reconsider, dream, and transform practices, environments, and relationships through disability-centered frameworks (Piepzna-Samarasinha, 2018; Sandahl, 2018).
DSandME23 will take place from April 27, 2023 through April 29, 2023. The symposium is free, with donations welcomed, and will take place online, with some satellite locations around the globe available for people interested in presenting or attending in-person. All sessions will feature ASL interpretation and live transcription. Please contact admin@disabilityandme.org with any questions and/or to confidentially discuss specific accessibility requirements that you may have. View the call for proposals.
*Disability language is context-dependent, contested, and evolving. In this call we use the terms most frequently used in music education research. We recognize that different terms than those used in this call such as “persons with disability” and “persons living with a disability” may be preferred by participants of this symposium and welcome their use.
**Ableism is “[a] system of assigning value to people's bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normalcy, productivity, desirability, intelligence, excellence, and fitness. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in eugenics, anti-Blackness, misogyny, colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism. This systemic oppression that leads to people and society determining people's value based on their culture, age, language, appearance, religion, birth or living place, "health/wellness", and/or their ability to satisfactorily re/produce, "excel" and "behave." You do not have to be disabled to experience ableism” (Lewis, 2022).
JMU Satellite Location
For attendees interested in joining DS&ME23 in person, the Office of Creative Propulsion will host a satellite location at the Student Success Center in Room 1075 beside Dunkin' Donuts. Light refreshments will be provided. Please communicate dietary needs to the Office of Creative Propulsion. Parking permits will be provided (details to come).
This Symposium is made possible by the DS&ME23 Planning Committee:
adam patrick bell - Western University
Warren Churchill - New York University Abu Dhabi
Amy Lewis - University of Wisconsin, Madison
Alex Lubet - University of Minnesota
Jesse Rathgeber - Augustana College
Rebecca Kenaga - James Madison University
Kathryn Rathgeber - James Madison University
Valerie Schoolcraft - James Madison University
David Stringham - James Madison University
Stefan Sunandan Honisch - University of British Columbia
Leroy Moore, Jr. - Krip-Hop, University of California, LA
Cathy Webb - Augustana College
Erika Knapp - University of North Texas
Latasha Thomas-Durrell - University of Dayton
