In April 2023, the APSA Council approved a proposal for a new Committee on the Status of Disability in the Profession.
The committee, chaired by Monica Schneider (Miami University), also includes Amber Knight (University of North Carolina Charlotte), Lisa Schur (Rutgers University), Art Blaser (Chapman University), and Nancy Hirschmann (University of Pennsylvania).
“I am honored to have this opportunity to help make political science a better discipline for disabled scholars and for research and teaching about disability.” – Monica Schneider, Miami University
At their first meeting in December 2023, they created a vision statement for a discipline, “where disability is actively valued as a dimension of diversity.” The immediate plans of the committee are to survey past and present APSA members to learn more about how many political scientists identify themselves as disabled and how they experience disability within our discipline. Lisa Schur is leading this charge:
“Disabled people are underrepresented in many fields. This survey is designed to learn about their experiences as students, teachers, and researchers in political science as a first step toward ensuring full access and inclusion for all people in our discipline.” – Lisa Schur, Rutgers University
The Committee expects that this investigation will lead to recommendations for improving conferences and for accommodating disability at all levels of the profession. Core parts of the mission also include advancing research on disability and developing and promoting curricular materials on disability.
“Guided by a commitment to disability justice and equity, the committee’s goal is to build a vision for the discipline of political science where disability is actively valued as a dimension of diversity.” – Vision StatementThe Committee will establish its presence at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia by hosting a panel entitled, “Rethinking Disability as a Universal Experience,” which will feature a discussion of how to define disability and explore a variety of issues facing the disabled members of the profession and discipline.
The Committee will also be co-sponsoring the Joint Reception for APSA Status Committees, Caucuses, and Organized Sections reception.
Meet the Committee Members on the Status of Disability in the Profession
Monica C. Schneider (Chair) is Paul Rejai Professor of Political Science at Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio. Her research and teaching interests include American politics, gender, caregiving, and disability politics and policy. Her research has appeared in Political Psychology, Health Affairs, Politics, Groups and Identities, and the Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, among others. Schneider is also a founding member of the Gender and Political Psychology Group, which organizes mentoring conferences for research and teaching that uses a psychological approach to study gender.
Nancy J. Hirschmann is Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought in the department of political science and the program on gender, sexuality, and women’s studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom and Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory, and Rethinking Obligation: A Feminist Method for Political Theory. She is currently finishing a book on the concept of freedom from a disability perspective.
Amber Knight, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, earned her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research generally focuses on contemporary political theory, critical disability studies, and feminist political thought. She has published several articles on disability in political science journals, including the Journal of Politics and Politics, Groups, and Identities, among other outlets. In addition, her book, Prenatal Genetic Testing, Abortion, and Disability Justice (Oxford University Press, 2023), co-authored with Dr. Joshua Miller, she was awarded Honorable Mention for the Alison Piepmeier Book Prize for the National Women’s Studies Association.
Art Blaser is Professor of Peace Studies and Political Science at Chapman University in Orange; California where he co-directs the Disability Studies minor. His scholarly interests include international law, mass atrocity, human rights, and disability law and policy. His articles have appeared in Human Rights Quarterly, the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, New Political Science, Disability Studies Quarterly, Peace Review, and elsewhere. He is on the editorial review boards of Disability Studies Quarterly and New Political Science.
Lisa Schur is Professor and past Chair of the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University, where she teaches employment law and labor studies. She received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley and a J.D. from Northeastern University. Her research focuses on the economic, political, and social inclusion of people with disabilities, particularly their political participation and employment experiences and outcomes. In addition to publishing in peer-reviewed journals, she wrote an invited White Paper on Disability and Voting for the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, and co-authored the book People with Disabilities: Sidelined or Mainstreamed?, published by Cambridge University Press.
To learn more about the Committee and follow their work, visit their website. To be added to the email list, please contact: schneimc@miamioh.edu with your contact information. If you have suggestions for the committee, please give them here.
About APSA Status Committees: The American Political Science Association (APSA) has status committees that focus on developing reports and projects, and promoting activities concerning advancement through the pipeline and the professional development of scholars from underrepresented groups within the political science discipline and across the profession. Learn more about status committees here.