Nationally Recognized Disability Expert to Speak On Campus

Well-respected disability studies scholar and author Michael Bérubé will speak at the College of Charleston on Tuesday, September 6 at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Center in the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance (corner of Wentworth and St. Philip Streets). The lecture is free and open to the public.

Michael Bérubé is one of the most well-respected scholars in the field of disability studies. His lecture, entitled “Life As Jamie Knows It” will focus on his son Jamie, who has Down syndrome. Jamie, now 19, will be taking part in many of the planned events on campus.

Bérubé is the author of seven books, including Life as We Know It: A Father, a Family, and an Exceptional Child (1996), which is both a memoir about life with his son Jamie, who has Down syndrome, and an academic exploration of the cultural construction of disability. The book has received a great deal of acclaim, including being selected by The New York Times as one of the notable books of the year. He is the Paterno Family Professor in Literature and Director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the Pennsylvania State University.

“He is an ideal speaker for the REACH Program, as he can discuss the academic legitimacy of disability studies and, more importantly, can address and dismantle the social myths surrounding cognitive disability,” says Edie Cusack, director of the REACH program at the College of Charleston. REACH stands for Realizing Educational and Career Hopes.

While Bérubé is an esteemed academic scholar, he is also skilled at communicating to a broader audience; for instance, Life as We Know It was published by a mainstream press, and Bérubé has written for publications such as The Village Voice, The New York Times Magazine, and The Nation.  For many years he had a popular blog called American Airspace, and he’s been a regular bloggers in other venues.

Their visit is sponsored by the REACH Program and cosponsored by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

For more information contact Edie Cusack at 843.953.4811 or Alison Piepmeier at 843.953.2280.