Rock Ethics Institute’s Disability Studies Lecture Series
February 14, 2003
University Park, Pa. -- The Disability Studies Lecture Series, sponsored by Penn State’s Rock Ethics Institute, will host three speakers this spring at the University Park campus.
On Feb. 17, Janet Lyon, professor of English and women’s studies at Penn State, will present “About Faces and Disability.” Eli Clare, poet, essayist, activist, will present “Stolen Bodies, Reclaimed Bodies” on March 4. On March 31, Susan Squier, the Brill Professor of Women’s Studies at Penn State, will present “Meditating on Disability.” All lectures will be held at 6:30 p.m., in the Foster Auditorium, 101 Pattee Library.
Also, the Rock Ethics Institute Disability Studies Initiative is co-sponsoring a lecture titled “The Laws of Disability Studies: Gender, Disability, and the Politics of Discrimination by Appearance,” which will be given by Susan Schweik, associate professor of English, University of California-Berkeley, on April 29 at 3 p.m., 102 Kern Building. The lecture is part of the Penn State Women’s Studies Program’s Feminist Scholars Series.
The Rock Ethics Institute is part of Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts.
Nancy Tuana, the DuPont/Class ’49 Professor of Ethics and Philosophy and director of the Rock Ethics Institute, explains the importance of the series and further investigation in disability studies. “The lectures are designed to provide an opportunity to think about critical ethical issues surrounding these topics and to encourage those with common interests to participate.
As current events have repeatedly demonstrated, moral literacy is a key to a just society and a moral nation,” she explains. “This lecture series is part of the Rock Ethics Institute’s commitment to cultivating moral awareness and inquiry.”
By bringing in scholars from departments such as English, philosophy, film studies, and women’s studies, the lecture series offers an approach to disability studies that incorporates the sharing of knowledge across disciplines. Lecture topics range from an in-depth look at the treatment of people with disabilities during the Holocaust, issues of disability and democracy, and how current practices of genetic screening may be linked to the oppression of those with disabilities.
In September, the first lecture was given by Anita Silvers, a philosophy professor from San Francisco State University, whose talk focused on disability and bioethics. Simi Linton, President of Disability/Arts presented a film and lecture/discussion about disability and the Holocaust. In addition, Michael Berube, the Paterno Family Professor in Literature, spoke on the topic of disability and issues of justice and democracy.
For more information, please contact the Rock Ethics Institute, at 814-863-0314 or visit its website at http://philosophy.la.psu.edu/ethics.
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