April 7 Forum to Spotlight Seismic Shifts in Views of Disability

Leading American anthropologists Faye Ginsburg, a MacArthur fellow, and Rayna Rapp to examine forces reshaping the culture of disability

Today, new conceptions of disability are sweeping the public imagination. Casting off imagery of recuperation, tragedy, and weakness, people with disabled bodies are moving beyond “inclusion” to claim their worth on every stage.

On Monday, April 7, in an open breakfast forum at the University Club in midtown Manhattan, the Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership will focus on the cultural, social and technological forces reframing “disability.” The school’s “Conversations with City” series will convene Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser professor of anthropology at NYU, MacArthur fellow, and author of “Mediating Culture: Indigenous Identity in a Digital Age,” and Rayna Rapp, professor of anthropology at NYU, focusing on gender and health, disability, genetic testing and politics of reproduction; author of “Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: the Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America” to examine this evolving status of disability, policy implications and the role of disability rights.

Who:  Faye Ginsberg, Ph.D., David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology, New York University Rayna Rapp, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Associate Chair, New York University
What:  “A Critical Anthropological Study of Disability,” a “Conversations with City” breakfast discussion.
When:     8 – 10 a.m. Monday, April 7
Where:    The University Club, One W. 54th Street, New York

Dr. Faye Ginsburg is director of the Center for Media, Culture & History and of NYU’s Graduate Program in Media & Culture, and co-director of the Center for Religion & Media and of the Council for the Study of Disability. Since 1989, she has published widely on social movements, indigenous media and disability. Her current projects focus on social movements and change, digital religion, disability in the digital age and indigenous media. Her most recent work is “Mediating Culture: Indigenous Identity in a Digital Age.”

Dr. Rayna Rapp is professor and associate chair of anthropology at NYU. Her research focuses on gender, reproduction, health and culture, and science and technology. For the past six years, she’s partnered with Dr. Faye Ginsburg on a research project on cultural innovation in special education in New York City—particularly on the rise of disability consciousness. Their publications include “Disability Worlds” in “Annual Review of Anthropology 2013.”

Dr. Irina Carlota “Lotti” Silber, associate professor of anthropology in the Colin Powell School at the City College of New York, will moderate.  

The event is the sixth installment in the Colin Powell School’s “Conversations with City” breakfast series. Held in midtown Manhattan, these programs are designed as forums for experts, community leaders and others attempting to meet the major social challenges of the day, as well as a way to introduce the vital work of the Colin Powell School to the broader New York City community.

To RSVP for the breakfast event, please email  mchr%69stoph%65r@ccny.cun %79.edu" rel="nofollow"> mchristopher@ccny.cuny.edu .

About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. U.S. News, Princeton Review and Forbes all rank City College among the best colleges and universities in the United States.

About the Colin Powell School
Inaugurated in 2013, the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership comprises the five departments of Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology and dynamic interdisciplinary programs including International Relations, International Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Mental Health Counseling, Pre-Law, Public Service Management, Women’s Studies, and the Skadden, Arps Honors Program for Legal Studies. The School offers a wide variety of traditional and interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate degrees and houses the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology offered by the CUNY Graduate Center. The Colin Powell School’s hallmark values of service and leadership permeate every aspect of its work and animate City College’s unflagging and historic commitment to access and excellence.