Noted Speakers: Stephen Gilson and Elizabeth DePoy
Stephen Gilson, PhD and Elizabeth DePoy, PhD have collaborated on scholarship and teaching in disability studies for over ten years. In 10 co-authored books and over 80 articles, they have advanced their theory of disability from a legitimacy perspective, suggesting that disability is a disjuncture between bodies understood as complex human phenomena and diverse environments. Their most recent work interrogates the role of design and branding in constructing disability as well as its potency in healing disjuncture and applies this work to the design of robotic technology to advance access as human right. DePoy and Gilson are both professors of interdisciplinary disability studies where they have developed a progressive and unique curriculum which integrates legitimacy theory and progressive social justice theory as the basis for analyzing and responding to disability. For their work, they have received numerous individual and collaborative national and international awards.
