Historian, educator, and disability rights advocate.

Across my research profile, I interrogate how disabled people (past and present) survive. I consider how disabled communities secure care and how they resist the medical industrial complex. I also do a lot of disability advocacy work surrounding access and accessibility issues in higher education.

Over the past decade, I’ve worked extensively to make sure that disabled people are represented in higher education – in the research we conduct, the classes we design, and the communities we envision. We have much to learn from disabled community members, past and present.

In addition to my traditional roles as a researcher and educator, I’ve also worked on podcasts, journals, and public history projects. I’m an adept grant manager, and I’ve secured grant and fellowship funding for archival research across the United States. I’m passionate about communicating disability history to the public and proactive about integrating universal design modalities in my work.

Outside of my own research in early American disability history, I also work to expand disability rights and dismantle academic ableism in higher education. I’ve drafted policy guidelines, compiled resources on access and accessibility, and advised on accessible community building in higher education.

I founded the Disabled Academic Collective on July 17, 2020 after a particularly alienating period of graduate school. Made up of more than 950 members, the DAC offers a safe community space for disabled undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and independent scholars.