Hi all,

      My midterm project is on 'Beyond Race and Ethnicity: Incorporation of the Culture of Disability into Cultural Competence Education'. In my project, I intend to use a critical disability studies len to analyze 

Hello all! For my midterm project I created a website. It focuses on the human body and the societal expectations that surround what an "attractive" or "beautiful" body should look like. In my opinion and in my own experience, it feels as if one starts to lose control of their own body and with the conformity that some may be pressured into doing may feel like their body is not their own. I also included the work of Riva Lehrer and how her own work with disability challenhges this perspective and how her work highlights the beauty that is present in every single body. 

The link to the website is: https://mbanatte.wixsite.com/thebodyisatemple

Here is my midterm project! It includes the main powerpoint, an audio commentary file, and a main ideas transcript of the audio commentary (I'm an improviser, so I added additional points to the audio commentary as I went along, but the main important ones are on the transcript). The audio file will be emailed to everyone. Thank you!

For my midterm project, I created a "picture book" called "From existence to resistance: critical disability studies." Because I couldn't turn in the physical book, I scanned the pages and put them in a powerpoint. I also included my interpretations of each page as a text file. Please forgive my spelling mistakes (pen isn't very forgiving :( )

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts about a Fierce Kind of Love! I found all of these thoughts insightful and informative. 

“To transform self-hatred into pride is a fundamental act of resistance” -Eli Clare, Exile and Pride (109)

I had an overall positive reaction to A Fierce Kind of Love, but was also left with a few questions. Although the play covered some difficult topics, there were some parts that I could see brought a lot of joy to the people in the play and the audience, which I enjoyed. I liked the way they integrated song, dance, and acting to get their message across to the audience. The one thing that struck me most was that the stories about the activist movement were from the perspectives of supporters of people with intellectual disabilities, but not the people with intellectual disabilities themselves. I am wondering why they made that choice and the process that went into determining that.

Just want to open by saying that I've never been too big a fan of plays. My grandparents are huge theather people so my childhood was full of sitting through long productions off broadway, on broadway, BAM, you name it. While none of these memories of plays are painful, I never enjoyed going to them either. I just found them boring. I rememberber how suprised I was when I actually enjoyed my high school's redention of Romeo and Juliet. Still not sure if it was the play I loved or just watching my friends dramatically fall in love on stage. That all being said, I was still excited for the chance to go on a field trip, get off Haverford's campus, and interact with the the topics and themes we've been discussing in class.

For me, one of the most impactful parts of the performance was when the reporter arrives at Pennhurst. The lights go out, and the spotlight is on him, casting the long, lone shadow of his standing figure. The lighting pulled all focus to him (and/or the ASL interpreters, who got similar spotlights) helping to ensure that the audience will focus on what he will say. There is no set of Pennhurst, rather the audience is reliant on his description. He starts with one sense, smell, which can’t be reported to others through television. The smell of 80 people in one room, sitting in their own excrement. A smell so powerful that the cameraman begs for them to leave.