Register Now for AFS Fellows’ Webinar “Folklore Talks: Interrogating the Normal: Folkloristic Engagements with Disability“ (March 25)

The AFS Fellows will present a webinar, “Interrogating the Normal: Folkloristic Engagements with Disability,” on March 25, 2022, 12:00–2:00 pm EDT. This webinar is the first in a series of three webinars on the topic of “Interrogating the Normal” and is part of a continuation of the Folklore Talks webinars presented by the AFS Fellows. 

Folklore opens new vistas for understanding what counts as normal. Studies of disability by folklorists are especially provocative for their critiques of ableism, challenging concepts of cultural competence. 

Phyllis May-Machunda (Professor Emerita of American Multicultural Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead) will discuss her experiences as a parent of a child with a disability/illness through the lens of a folklorist and will consider intersections among folklore and disability. 

Nora Groce (the Cheshire Chair at University College London (UCL)) will consider folklore and disability as important and often overlooked factors in international development and global health efforts. 

Drawing on his memoir, The Secret Life of a Black Aspie, Anand Prahlad (Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri) will focus on the importance of writing and voice in representations of disability, implicating ruptures in the canon of folkloristics.  

They will be joined by scholars from both folklore and disability studies in a roundtable discussion following the presentations. 

Live captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided for this webinar, but if you require another accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Amy Shuman: [email protected]. Requests made two weeks before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but we will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

This webinar will be recorded for those unable to attend. You can also join the conversation in small follow-up virtual discussion “salons” to be held one week later, April 1, 12:00–1:30 pm EDT. Separate registration is required for the salons; information about how to register will be shared with webinar registrants and in AFS News after the event.

These events are co-sponsored by The Society for Disability Studies.