Disability Studies Programs: Tips and List of Prospective Programs for English

[Oklash]

I'm a disability studies scholar and an applicant for English PhD programs. I have a Master's in English as well. I'm posting this because I had a hard time find disability studies scholars/programs and want to provide a list for those who are also looking (or will be looking)! I'm also procrastinating and not grading the essays for the classes I am currently adjunction but let's just chalk that irresponsibility up to nerves. I don't mean for this list to be comprehensive, rather I hope to start a forum and ask for additions to the Disability Studies List. I also want you all get an idea of what you should look for in an English Disability Studies program. (Or at least what I think you should look for in an English/Disability Studies Program.) 

This list is heavily influenced by the 2021 application season! That means that I probably missed many of the universities that did not accept applications this year. Anyway, add more schools and tips to this thread! And if your are a disability scholar, we can just chat too.

Emory - Rosemarie Garland-Thomas is here. But there are plenty of other disability scholars. Emory also has the Disability Studies Initiative which is a program with an interdisciplinary reach. The program's director is from the english department 

• http://www.disabilitystudies.emory.edu/home/index.html
• http://www.english.emory.edu/home/graduate/

University of Wisconsin - Madison - Dr. Sami Schalk, a black disability feminist scholar resides here, however she is a Women's and Gender Studies professor. But the university also has a Disability Studies Initiative and other disability scholars. There are plenty of ways to engage with disability studies during your graduate experience. But one of the most interesting things about UW-Madison is that they offer a PhD minor. If you are getting a PhD in another department or field, you can "minor" in any other field and use it for disability studies. In English, you can minor in gender studies to gain access to Schalk or you can just ask to work with Schalk directly. They are very nice. (I am 99% sure I screwed my own application up. I didn't realize till after I submitted that Schalk was not in the English department so I probably look like an idiot. I assumed she was a literary scholar based on her publications and CV. Don't be like me.)

• https://guide.wisc.edu/graduate/english/english-phd/
• https://english.wisc.edu/graduate-program/phd-minor/

GW - George Washington University - Robert McRuer is a big faculty name for disability studies. Johnathan Hsy is also extremely interesting. But the university has a good Crip/Queer Theory concentration for the english Phd. (I am pretty sure that I also looked silly in this application. I am still unsure as to whether it's "George Washington University" or just "George Washington.")

• https://english.columbian.gwu.edu/graduate
• https://english.columbian.gwu.edu/areas-strength

Stanford - Ato Quayson is a black disability scholar and author of Aesthetic Nervousness - Disability and the Crisis of Representation. The English department doesn't have a huge disability studies program but their course work and growing disability studies faculty point towards an obvious interest. (I wish I could have applied here but I was out of money and way over budget :/)

• https://english.stanford.edu/academics/phd-program
• https://english.stanford.edu/people/ato-quayson

Ohio State - There is a lot of Disability Studies faculty. I am afraid I do not recognize many of them but feel free to read the profiles. (They also have a Medical Humanities Master's (More on that later) (I wish I had applied here as well but alas, out of money!) 

• https://english.osu.edu/graduate/ma-phd

TIPS:

Now that you have this many list, here are a few tips for assessing programs, writing your statements, and researching faculty

• Look at recent course work! Even if there is no solid disability studies programs, many universities offer quite a few courses on Disability. Look for those courses! Mention them in your statement. And if you see courses that are not about disability but could really benefit from it, mention that too. Overall, use coursework to gauge the department's interest in disability scholarship. Mention how you can be a part of that interest. 
• If a program does have a disability studies initiative or even just an outreach program, include how you could be an addition to the initiative or the outreach as both a scholar and just someone willing to help out and be a part of it. 
• Look for, and read!, recent dissertations. Dissertations from students, about disability, that were published in the last 5 years will give key insights on what disability phd students actually did during their time at the university. It is also a good way to figure out which faculty members helped with the project! Include these faculty members in your statement and if a dissertation really stuck out to you, mention that in your purpose as well. And a quick cheat for this tip, see if the scholar who wrote the dissertation has published anything else post graduation, that will also give you a sense of what grad study was like for a disability phd student at the particular school.
• Be specific with your academic scope. "Disability" is quite broad in an academic sense. So seek specific avenues of academic interest. (Black/African American Disability, Asian American Disability, Disability and Diaspora Studies, Renaissance Disability, Early Modern Disability, Neurodivergence, Narrative Prosthesis, Gothic Disability, Southern Gothic Disability, Disability in Theater.....I could go on all day. But have a specific academic interest for your disability scholarship.)
• Some programs are interested in social justice scholarship. They may not mention "disability" directly but it's your job to convince them that disability studies belongs in that social justice category!
• It is quite a small niche (in my experience) but some programs have faculty interested in the Medical and Health Humanities. Like social justice, it's your job to convince them disability studies belongs in such a category. And while you're at it, if you have never heard of Medical Humanities and it's intersection with Disability Studies, English, Literature, or Rhetoric, look into it! You may want to focus your attention on medical humanities or give yourself more options. 
  • Here's a Free/Open Access article on The Medical Humanities! (It's from the Association of American Medical Colleges.)
  • Ohio State has a Medical Humanities and Social Sciences Terminal MA program.  If you already have an MA and are applying to a Phd, look and see if the resources for the medical humanities can still help !
  • University of North Carolina has a terminal MA program too!
  • If you are really interested in the Medical and Health Humanities, Stanford complied a list of Health Humanities Programs

Some sad and not so nice tips: 

• There are a few PhDs out there in Disability Studies. HOWEVER, be aware of the reality of academia and job potential. It may be very difficult to find a job with a doctorate in Disability Studies when relatively few schools have Disability studies programs. I would advise against these PhD programs. Your are better off finding a job as a "traditional" scholar with a disability concentration. This may change but for now ? BUT still apply to more english or other humanities programs! In your statement, mention your acknowledgment of the adjacent disability studies program and faculty. To clarify even further,  still apply to these schools english PhD program but mention your interdisplenary interest in the neighboring disability studies field. Emphasize that your true interests lie in literature, theory, etc, but clarify that you are also interested in the prospective schools' proximity to disability studies. 
• There is a very high chance that other faculty members or even peers won't be so nice. If you are in disability studies there is a chance that you, yourself, have a disability or are very familiar with the concept. In my experience, this has caused a lot of assumptions about me and my work. If you are disabled, you may be immediately outed. In my case, I have am neurodivergent with a learning disability that's evident in my CV and publication history. I do not know how committees view disability, but sometimes they may count your disability as a "weakness" and assume that it will make you less likely to complete the program. The good news is that if this is true, and you don't get in, then that program doesn't deserve you and did you a favor. 
• If you have a disability don't feel as if you have to justify it in your statement. You do not have to cannibalize your existence or offer a "sob" story if you do not want too. Instead, use it as a way to exemplify your motivations and talk about how it shapes your perspective. 
• Also, when you are  a disability scholar, you may find yourself actively resisting flawed rhetoric or just plain ablism. It is highly likely that you'll face criticism or a misunderstanding with a superior. So if you are seeking disability scholarship, grow a tough skin and be very very brave. There will be advice that you have to reject, times where you have to throughly explain a basic concept, and instances where people say something incredibly mean...sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. Be very firm in your scholarship! (I could make a separate thread on universities NOT to go too and faculty to AVOID AT ALL COSTS! However, that would be in poor taste. If I could, though, I would!) 

 

Anyway, that's enough procrastination. I really hope I get into one of the school's I applied for! But maybe this will help other disability scholars. Be sure to add your suggestions, tips, or potential schools. 

[helloperil]

This is great information! I also wanted to add the program at UT Austin as one of interest; Alison Kafer (author of Feminist, Queer, Crip) and Julie Minich, who works on disability studies and Chicana/o literature, are both professors in the UT Gender and Women's Studies program and I believe Minich has a joint appointment in English.

And in addition to Sami Schalk in UW Madison's gender and women's studies program, Ellen Samuels, who works on disability in American literature, has an appointment in English and gender women's studies as well.