Inaugural Disability Culture Summit Builds Dialogue and Community

In a first-ever event, the Disability Studies programs at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) hosted a Disability Culture Summit this November.

The online summit featured several notable leaders in the arts and sports worlds who discussed their own work and the ways that people with disabilities may shape the larger culture. In their presentations and audience Q&A, each sought to answer the central question posed by the summit: how do intersections in technology across disability culture successfully address ableism and increase diversity and inclusion?

Presenters included Jerron Herman, performer and director; Ryan Martin, Director of Inclusive and Adaptive Sports, CUNY Athletics; and Leroy F. Moore, Jr., founder, Krip-Hop Nation. (A fourth scheduled presenter, Dr. Ashley Shew, was not able to attend.) Dr. Andrew Marcum, academic director of the CUNY SPS disability studies programs, and Dr. Brian Le Lay, an assistant professor in the department, moderated the summit.

In the first presentation of the night, Herman spoke about his career as a dancer, director, and disability consultant, and highlighted some of his main projects exploring dance and disability, which included a recent piece performed with CUNY SPS Disability Studies alum Molly Joyce. As Herman noted, his work shares a common goal of making disability visible in the dance space and advocating for inclusivity in the dance world.

In one example, Herman explained that, in his role as a disability consultant, he was able to encourage Lincoln Center to make changes for those with disabilities, including a policy by which they extended the one-minute break for dancers into a two-minute break.

“The first thing I did was to increase one-minute dance break into a two-minute one. Because when you’re dealing with a disabled body you always have to expand time. So from there we’ve crafted a really substantive relationship to disability that changed the framework of this design of Lincoln Center’s dance break,” Herman said. “[This case study] shows that authentic curiosity and partnership need to reign supreme when dealing and thinking about disability.”

Next, Ryan Martin described his experiences as a wheelchair athlete with spina bifida who has competed in sporting events throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to his work at CUNY, which includes his time as a student in the CUNY SPS Disability Studies program, Martin is the founder and president of the Ryan Martin Foundation, which provides opportunities for wheelchair sports.

During his presentation, Martin shared some of what he has learned from his lifelong career and reflected upon the rise of adaptive sports as a means to increase inclusivity. “I think you can look at adaptive sports and sports for individuals with disabilities starting to cross into different lanes of disability culture in allowing us to [look] at what individuals with disabilities are capable of doing versus the traditional medical model approach, where we evaluate individuals with disabilities based on what they're not able to do,” Martin said. “… What I like about sports is a common understanding that—just like music and just like art—[it] can start to break down some of those barriers and break down some of those walls.”

The third and final presenter, Leroy Franklin Moore Jr., discussed the ways that his creative and scholarly projects seek to increase awareness of disability culture and its intersection with race and ableism. In addition to Moore’s career as a poet, writer, and music archivist, he is one of the founders of Krip Hop, a movement that uses hip-hop music as a means of expression for people with disabilities. For Moore, the major project for people with disabilities is to become liberated from the stigma and constraints of society through what he termed ‘black krip radicalization.’

In particular, he noted that there are four stages that disabled people must go through to a political awakening. “Stage one is very important and must sit alone… Once you see yourself and once you become educated, once you step into these spaces that include us, that means you're black kripping in the space …so that's phase two.” Moore explained. “[And] during and after black kripping we must continue to mobilize our community, our black community, black history, [and] black culture. Then you're moving past awareness and pride to…politically and culturally coming into yourself as a person with disability.”

Following the presentations, the four speakers answered audience questions on a range of topics, including societal expectations, cross-disciplinary collaboration, language and ideas relating to inclusivity, allyship, and how to achieve social change and equality for people with disabilities.

Joining them in the Q&A, Dr. Marcum and Dr. Le Lay also weighed in on the ways that the CUNY SPS’ groundbreaking disability studies program, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary over the 2024-2025 academic year, may help foster a strong disability culture.

“…I think as far as SPS is concerned, continuing more events like this, or having this as an annual event, and continuing to make the event more robust and bringing in the incredible talent and creativity that we have all around us…could set the stage for setting up a cultural center or collaborating with partners in the city or the community to contribute to disability culture in a sustained and consistent way,” Dr. Marcum noted.

Dr. Le Lay also offered his thoughts on the potential for the CUNY SPS disability studies program to build a space of inclusion and liberation.

“I think that there is a lot of really important disability cultural work happening at SPS and at CUNY. I've been here for over a year at this point and I'm still amazed that I'm constantly hearing about important work happening on this front…[What] I really see now is a need to create shared sustaining spaces for that work to happen in an ongoing and collaborative way …and making this a regular annual event might be one sort of space.”

About the CUNY SPS Disability Studies Programs

Disability Studies is an emerging academic field that explores disability from multiple perspectives, including the social sciences, humanities, science, and the law. The CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) offers groundbreaking, fully accredited programs within Disability Studies. The School’s offerings include a BA, Advanced Certificate, and MA in Disability Studies, and an Advanced Certificate and MS in Disability Services in Higher Education.

About the CUNY School of Professional Studies

As New York's leading online school since 2006, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) offers the most online bachelor's and master's degree options at the City University of New York, and serves as the University's first undergraduate all-transfer college. With 26 degrees and numerous other non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor's degree, progress from an associate's degree, earn a master's degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers. Consistently ranked highly by U.S. News & World Report for its online offerings, CUNY SPS has emerged as a nationwide leader in online education. The School's renowned and affordable online programs ensure that busy working adults may fulfill their educational goals on their own time and schedule.

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