UGS Talks: Insights into Disability and Research
As part of UK Disability History Month, which runs 16 November to 16 December in 2023, ‘UGS Talks: Insights into Disability and Research’ explored the impact postgraduates and researchers are making on Disability and neurodiversity in Higher Education and beyond.
Hosted by Dr. Sammy Li, Assistant Director of Student Affairs (Postgraduate and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) at the University of Birmingham, we heard from academics, postgraduate taught students and postgraduate researchers exploring current research into Disability and neurodiversity, inclusive research design, and being a Disabled and/or neurodivergent postgraduate.
Dr. Barbara Sandland led our keynote talk with her colleagues Dr. Andrea Macleod and Dr. Neil Hall, on their project ‘Neurodiverse Students within Higher Education’. As part of a current HEFi-funded project which focuses on how neurodiverse doctoral students can best be prepared for their viva voce examination, Barbara, Andrea and Neil, who research in the School of Education, explored the experiences of neurodivergent postgraduates within higher education, and what recommendations have been made for academic adjustments.
Our postgraduate panel including postgraduate researchers and postgraduate taught students from across the five Colleges. Dalal Aljasem, a PhD researcher from Computer Science, spoke about her research into how people with vision impairments interact with screens and user interfaces, and her aim to improve the design and accessibility features of screens. One of our UGS Scholars (PGT) for 2023-24, MA student Thea Hatton, also spoke on her interest in Disability and trans-humanism in Science Fiction across film, television and video games, which she is developing into her dissertation and hopefully a PhD. Our final postgraduate speaker, Kit Richards, a PhD student in English Literature, spoke passionately on their research into the representation of dwarfism in the Fantasy genre, and his own experiences as a neurodivergent postgraduate.
Our fantastic audience joined in the conversation throughout the talks, and gave our speakers insightful questions and encouragement. Described as ‘thought-provoking’, ‘heartening’, and ‘strengthening’ by our attendees, you can watch the recording and join in the conversation here.
You can also find out more about UK Disability History Month here, and the range of University of Birmingham events marking Disability History Month here.