Centre for Culture & Disability Studies
Faculty of Education, Liverpool Hope University
Disability, in the field of
education, is often conceptualised along the lines of
accessibility and/or Special Educational Needs. While critical
engagement with these issues is certainly encouraged and
supported, the main focus of the Centre for Culture &
Disability Studies is on challenging and changing all aspects of
dehumanising practice, on fully acknowledging the ontology and
epistemology of people who are disabled. This focus often
pertains to the content of courses, the dire need for curricular
reform. Whether we work in schools, colleges, or universities,
there can be no denying that disability is represented
extensively in the cultural artefacts on which so many of our
lessons and courses are based, yet the critical engagement with
these representations is frequently absent from the curriculum.
The result for disabled learners is inclusion without
profundity: the result for learners in general is an inherently
deficient knowledge base. This state of affairs reveals a
multitude of practical and theoretical issues about not only
learning and teaching, but also identity, culture, society,
prejudice, embodiment, terminology, discourse, attitudes,
representation, personhood, and so on. Disability,
therefore, has interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary relevance
even within the field of education.
The Centre for Culture & Disability Studies hosts and/or
endorses a growing array of internationally recognised courses,
publications, research projects, events, series, networks, and
affiliations.
Director: Dr. David Bolt.
E-mail: boltd@hope.ac.uk
Telephone: 0151 291 3346
Core Members:
Dr. Owen Barden, Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow bardeno@hope.ac.uk
Dr. Ria Cheyne, Lecturer and Deputy Director cheyner@hope.ac.uk
Dr. Alan Hodkinson, Associate Professor hodkina@hope.ac.uk
Pippa Leddra, Academic Support Worker dbsw@hope.ac.uk
Dr. Marie O’Connor, Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow oconnom@hope.ac.uk
Dr. Claire Penketh, Programme Leader penketc@hope.ac.uk
Laura Waite, Lecturer and Doctoral Candidate waitel@hope.ac.uk
Postal Address: Faculty of Education, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, L16 9JD