Cluster

Name & AffiliationHighlights of Scholarly & Artistic AchievementsRelevant Experience
Prof. Leslie Roman, PI, Killam Fellow, Educational Studies (EDST) and Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (IGRSSJ)Leadership: Co-chairs UBC President’s Working Committee on Disability Culture, Art & Equity; Wingspan Cluster PI/Leader. Co-Creator of the Unruly Salon, a disability arts, scholarship and culture series, yielding 3 refereed journal issues. ED. & Prod. of disability arts films. Publications: 4 books (ed.); 1 single-authored book in press; a fifth edited book in review; 25 refereed articles; 6 refereed journal issues (3 in disability arts/public pedagogies); 17 refereed chpts; 40 Invited Keynotes in 5 countries. Funding: $850K as PI. Currently, PI Wingspan VPRI cluster, Haggenson. Past PI on SSHRC, 2 Hampton Grants & 3 Equity Grants. Awards: UBC Killam Fellow & AESA Book of the Year.Disability studies: sociology of education, public pedagogy & policy, global south; cultural studies, disability arts & culture
Prof. Annette Brown, Co-I, Distinguished University Scholar, NursingLeadership: Fellow, Canadian Academic of Health Sciences. Publications: 5 co-edited books; 14 book chpts; 92 journal articles. Funding: $8M+ as PI or Co-PI, and $15M+ total funding, incl. a current $3M+ Public Health Agency of Canada research grant. Awards: UBC School of Nursing Centenary Medal of Distinction (2019); UBC John McNeill Excellence in Health Research Mentorship Award (2015); Award of Excellence in Nursing Research, College of Registered Nurses of BC (2008).Postcoloniality, equitable healthcare for and with Indigenous women, community-engaged research, Global South, decolonialism
Prof. Mary Chapman, Co-I, Academic Director, Public Humanities Hub; Dept of EnglishLeadership: Academic Director, Public Humanities Hub. Publications: 1 monograph & 5 (co-)edited books; 11 articles; 8 book chpts. Funding: $875,000+ as PI or Co-PI, incl. PI on a current SSHRC IG; 2 prev. SSHRC Standard Research Grants. Awards: Winner, Soc for the Study of Am Women Writers Book Prize (2015); Winner, Cdn Assoc of Am Studies Book Prize (2015); Winner, Susan Koppelman Prize, Popular Culture Association/ACA (2011).Artistic & literary marginality, Performance & theatrical productions, Public humanities, Public pedagogy of the arts
Prof. Rita L. Irwin, Co-I, Distinguished University Scholar, Curriculum & Pedagogy (EDCP)Leadership: Past Chair, World Alliance for Arts Education; Past President of the Int’l Society for Education through Art, & Canadian Society for Study of Education. Publications: 1 book, 21 edited books, 109 book chpts, 113 journal articles. Funding: $5.3M in PI & Co-I funding; $6.1M in research related contracts. Currently holds 1 SSHRC PDG & is Co-I on 1 SSHRC PDG. Art Exhibitions: Regional & national exhibitions spanning 20+ years. Awards: Distinguished Fellow [NAEA]; Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award [NAEA]; Tom Barone Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts Based Educational Research [AERA]; Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring [UBC].A/r/tography, art education, arts-based research, education. Established visual artist (painting, photography & mixed media).
Prof. Carrie Jenkens, Co-I, CRC, PhilosophyLeadership: Canada Research Chair in Philosophy. Publications: 2 monographs + 1 forthcoming; 31 journal articles; 14 book chpts. Funding: $2.3M as PI or Co-I, incl. current PI on a current SSHRC IG Awards: Winner, APA Public Philosophy Op Ed Contest (2016).Troubling ‘normalcy,’ inclusive arts, ethics beyond binaries; poet & writer
Prof. Joanne Matsubara, Co-I, Ophthalmology & Visual SciencesLeadership: Director of Research, Basic Sciences, Eye Care Centre; Assistant Director, Centre for Macular Research; Member, Scientific Advisory Panel, Canadian National Institute of the Blind. Publications: 60+ journal articles. Intellectual Property: 3 patents granted; 1 pending. Funding: $5.9M as PI or Co-I; current PI or co-PI on $1.8M in CIHR Project grants (x2) & $340K in NSERC Discovery + Discovery Accelerator grants. Awards: UBC Basic Science Research Award (2017); Helen Keller Vision Research Award, Lion’s Club, for scientific contributions (2012).Retinal diseases & treatments: age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, active in KT, esp w/ CNIB
Dr. Bathseba Opini, Co-I, EDST, Killam Teaching AwardLeadership: Coordinator EDST teacher education courses. Publications: 1 Monograph, 2 co-authored books, 10 refereed journal articles, 8 book chpts, 30+ presentations. Funding: $500K as Co-I. Awards: Killam Lecturer & Sessional Teaching Award.Disability studies, youth, inclusion in schools (K–12); Educational Leadership.
Prof. Emeritus Jack Rootman, MD, LMCC, FRCSC, Co-I, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; ArtistLeadership: President, Provost’s Committee on University Art, UBC Art Gallery (1998–2013); Director, Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver (1989–96) Publications: 200+ peer-reviewed journal articles, 67 book chpts, 1 book (ed), 2 textbooks. Awards: 49 career total research awards & distinctions. Art Exhibitions: exhibiting in solo and group exhibitions since 1986, incl. with Singapore National Eye Centre (2000), Am Acad of Ophthalmology (1998), Northwest Watercolor Soc (1994)orbital disease, ophthalmic pathology, ocular oncology; Nationally exhibiting visual artist (watercolour, ink, gouache, acrylic, oil, pastel)
Assoc. Prof. Leyton Schnellert, Co-I, Rix Professorship in Rural Teacher Education, EDCPLeadership: UBC Institute for Community Engaged Research; Inclusive Education Research Cluster Lead, Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship. Publications: 6 co-authored books, 1 edited book, 25 book chpts & journal articles, 16 films; 109 presentations nationally & internationally. Funding: As PI/Co-PI $827K & as Co-I $1.6M. Awards: Pat Clifford Award for Early Career Research in Education (Canadian Educ. Assoc); Book of the Year (2017) Award (Exceptionality Education Int’l).Inclusive education, community-engaged research, participatory theatre, rural education and youth.
Prof. Tim Stainton, Co-I, School of Social Work; Founder & Co-Director of Centre for Inclusion & CitizenshipLeadership: Appointed to UBC President’s Working Committee on Disability Culture, Art & Equity. Canadian Assoc. for Community Living, Chair Values & Ethics Task Force. Publications: 45 Refereed publications as author/co-author. Funding: PI or co-PI on $3M+ research funding over the past 5 years from SSHRC (3), CIHR, Federal & Provincial Government contracts, & Vancouver Foundation. Awards: Fellow, Int’l Assoc. for the Scientific Study of Intellectual & Developmental Disability; Thinker in Residence, Disability Services Commission, Gov’t of Western Australia (2016).Social work, disability studies, intellectual disability, eugenics, legal & ethical issues in medical aid in dying.
Prof. Taylor Webb, Co-I, EDSTLeadership: Past Graduate Advisor for EDST; Past Program Head of Society, Culture, and Politics in Education; supervisor, Killam & SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow 2018–2020. Publications: 3 books; 1 forthcoming book; 30 refereed articles; 9 book chpts; 5 Keynote lectures Funding: $895K total, $361K as PI; Two SSHRC Grants, currently hold a SSHRC Insight Grant. Awards: 2018 Competitive Faber Residency in Spain; 2009 Critics’ Choice Book Award (AESA); 2010 Outstanding Book Award (AERA); 2009 UBC President’s Promising Research Award (Toope).Eugenics; educational leadership, neurodiversity; cyber enhancements; xenofeminism; governing difference; artificial intelligence
Dr. Tsitsi Chataika, Senior Lecturer, Co-I, Dep’t of Educational Foundations, U of Zimbabwe – Wing SiteLeadership: Chair, Dep’t of Educational Foundations; African Union Commission Key Disability Expert. Publications: 4 (co-)edited books, 21 book chpts, 7 journal articles, 10 peer-reviewed policy briefs, 22 keynotes. Funding: $11K+ USD, international grants to present or collaborate in research in the UK, South Africa, Norway, Switzerland, and the US. Awards: Visiting Researcher Grant to U of Sheffield; National Women’s Achievers Accolade in Inclusive Ed (2018)Intersection of disability with policy, education, gender, religion, childhood studies, poverty, and postcolonial theory; visual impairment
Prof. Anna Hickey-Moody, Co-I, Dept of Media & Communications, RMIT University – Wing SiteLeadership: Launched & co-ran the interdisciplinary Goldsmith Disability Research Centre, UL; Australian Research Council Future Fellow; RMIT Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellowship. Publications: 7 co-authored books, 34 book chpts, 39 journal articles. Funding: $4.3M+ total. Numerous European & Australian university grants. Awards: Best Essay for Editor’s Choice, Taylor & Francis in Philosophy (2015); Fellow, UCL Institute of Education (2011); Dean’s Award for Excellence in Early Career Research, Monash University (2008)Disability studies, Indigenous youth, education, disability & performance
Prof. Robert McRuer, Co-I, Dept of English, George Washington University – Wing SiteLeadership: Former Chair, Department of English, George Washington University (2012–2016). Publications: 3 books, 21 journal articles, 20 book chpts. Funding: $10K from GWU for conference funding. Awards: Alan Bray Memorial Book Award, MLA (2007); Council of Editors of Learned Journals Best Special Issue Award (2003)Queer/Crip theory, disability studies, literary theory, cultural studies, access, globalization
Prof. Tanya Titchkosky, OISE, University of Toronto – Wing Province*Leadership: Developed graduate disability studies (UofT); founding member of Unsettling Normalcy: A Disability Studies Research and Activist Network. Publications: 3 single authored disability studies books (UofT Press); one co-edited book; 63+ refereed publications; 5 reports. Funding: PI SSHRC IG ($200K); Co-I SSHRC IDG ($80K); Co-I Metrolinx research funding ($30K) Awards: Canadian Disability Studies Association Tanis Doe Award for Canadian Disability Study and Culture (2014).Disability studies, education, cultural studies, accessibility
Dr. Jennifer Gagnon, PhD, Political Science, University of Minnesota, BA, University of British ColumbiaLecturer in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a Wingspan cluster member. She is the creator and President of UBC’s Disability Affinity Group which works towards the goals of community care and Disability Justice. As an advocate, she is involved in activism and workshop facilitation on Disability Justice, accessibility, consent culture, and LGBTQ2SIA+ inclusion. She is a recipient of the 2021 Killam Teaching Prize at UBC which recognizes excellence in teaching innovation. Jennifer identifies as a bisexual settler and Disabled woman, and strives to bring her whole self to her teaching and research.Disability Studies, political theory, classics, qualitative methods, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), feminism, queer studies, and gender
Prof. Christine Stuart, Women’s and Gender Studies, University of ManitobaChristine Stewart, who writes as Christine Stewart-Nuñez, is the author of seven books of poetry and a book of essays. Christine’s primary relationship to disability is as the parent of a child with disability, particularly of the intellectual/neurological variety. In her creative work, she explores themes of motherhood in relationship to disability, especially in Bluewords Greening (Terrapin Books 2016)—winner of the 2018 Whirling Prize (literature of disability theme). Christine, who served as South Dakota’s poet laureate from 2019-2021, is currently finishing up a memoir and collaborating with visual artists in the U.S. and U.K. on ekphrastic projects and exhibits. She is a professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies program at the University of Manitoba, where she teaches Feminisms and Disability in Contemporary Literature, and next year she will be splitting her professorship between WGS and Disability Studies.Feminisms and Disability in Contemporary Literature
Assistant Prof. Diane Driedger, Disability Studies, University of ManitobaDr. Diane Driedger is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Disability Studies. She has published 11 books, including the recent Still Living the Edges: A Disabled Women’s Reader (Inanna, fall 2021).

Diane has been at the forefront of the disability rights movement, locally, nationally, and internationally for over 40 years, with organizations such as the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, DisAbled Women’s Network Canada, Disabled Peoples’ International and DisAbled Women’s Network Trinidad and Tobago.

She was a government-appointed member of the provincial government drafting committee for the Manitoba Accessibility Act (2013-16). She has consulted with the Canadian government on strategies to enact the Canada Accessibility Act.		Disability Studies
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