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In what ways might Disability Matters inform health, research, science and university sectors?

What kinds, formats and types of knowledge might we embrace to ensure that disability is front and centre of health, research and science? 

These are just two questions that we are grappling with as a team of researchers. In our original proposal we set out a number of activities that engage with the broad notion of 'knowledge exchange':

We will host annual Online Townhalls aimed at science and health funders, policy makers and researchers based across universities, NGOs and DPOs supplemented by a series of Policy Workshops with EDI teams. We will increase international reach of knowledge through a series of International Symposia - led by the PI and NADSN - aimed at similar audiences in Singapore, Toronto, Delhi, Sydney and London. And, we will share emergent policy and strategy findings at six International Conferences addressing Medicine, Medical Humanities, Medical Sociology, Higher Education, Science and Technology Studies.

We continue to work with these ideas but are also responsive to the modes and forms of working that emerge in collaboration with disabled researchers and disabled people's organisations. For example, in early 2024, we teamed up with the Humanising Healthcare team and Joanna Tobbell to capture effective disability co-production on film.

Members of Disability Matters have presented at conferences and invited seminars in Greece, Iceland, India, Singapore, Canada and the United Kingdom:
 

Toronto, 2024
Tanya Titchkosky contribute to this new series. The Centre for Global Disability Studies (CGDS) at the University of Toronto is excited to announce our annual Critical Conversations Series for 2024. The Critical Conversations series from the Centre for Global Disability Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) brings together scholars, activists, and researchers to discuss timely issues that impact global disability justice. The Critical Conversations Series seeks to uphold the Centre for Global Disability Studies values of promoting accessibility in academic conversations, building interdisciplinary community, and supporting anti-ableist scholarship and activism that furthers anti-colonial and transnational perspectives. ASL and CART captioning will be provided for both events. 

Members of the team reported on the challenges of supporting disability research in the neoliberal academy with reference to a working paper written by Rhea Halsey, Dan Goodley and Rebecca Lawthom

2nd International Conference on Disability Studies, Thessaloniki, 2024
Rhea Halsey and Dan Goodley presented papers on behalf of the Disability Matters programme at the 2nd International Conference on Disability Studies: Disability Matters: Critically Examining Disablism and Ableism: A collaboration between the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary Education, School of Education, University of 91Ö±²¥, and iHuman, University of 91Ö±²¥.

University of Manchester seminar, 2024
Dan Goodley presented a paper to the University of Manchester's Psychology, Communication and Human Neuroscience (PCHN) Spring seminar on 6th March 2024. 


Dan Goodley was invited to present as part of a panel on Inclusive Leadership at the EDIS2023 event at the Francis Crick institute in London. Dan joined Hamied Haroon, the Chair of National Association of Disabled Staff Networks, to lobby for the centralisation of disabled people in the conceptualisation and management of research. 

Dan Goodley offered a soft international launch of the Disability Matters programme during a session to the Nordic Network of Disability Research which was held in Iceland this year. For many this was a first time to reconnect with critical disability studies scholars post-pandemic. Dan joined other members of the Critical Disability Studies team to present on their research and scholarship. A flyer introducing our work with links to project websites can be found here

, 2023 
Refers to a series of free, online events where scholars, health professionals, and the public discuss how arts and humanities can inform healthcare. Hosted by The University of Kent and with the support of the Churchill Foundation, these events seek to develop meaningful dialogue and connection between humanities and medicine. Dan Goodley joined colleague Kirsty Liddiard to discuss the ways in which Disability Matter's Scholarship work offers a paradigm shift to disability as driving subject in the medical humanities. A link to the podcast can be found 

This article offers a provocation challenging Equality, Diversity and Inclusion discourse from a critical disability studies perspective - written by Dan Goodley and Kirsty Liddiard.

We continue to critically explore what it means to generate and participate in knowledge production for a host of audiences led by our Knowledge Exchange Research Associate Christina Lee.