Setting the stage for accessibility

Every year, National AccessAbility Week celebrates diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. The Department of Theatre and Film in the Faculty of Arts is proud to feature three members of our community who are driving social change in the performing arts. Through their work, and the works of others, our goal is to create a space where disability is properly represented in our community. 

Meet the scholars who are redefining accessibility in the performing arts through their research.

"Over time and in countless ways, theatre has contributed to ableism. I hope to contribute something of value to the dynamic international community of disability artists, activists, and scholars who are wrestling with these histories, dismantling ableist legacies, and re-imagining the world."
– Dr. Kirsty Johnston

“My hope as a disabled researcher, musician, and educator, is to reach people who might ordinarily feel excluded by normative definitions of 'reader,' 'researcher,' 'educator,' and 'musician.' These labels, and the identities they signify, make a range of assumptions about what kinds of knowledge are deemed valuable, and about who is considered able to hold such knowledge."
– Dr. Stefan Sunandan Honisch

“For me, it’s important to challenge the conventional understanding of academic knowledge as a one-way transfer from experts to laypeople. Apropos of my interest in sound, I think it’s equally important to listen, especially with respect to first-hand experience.”
– Matthew Tomkinson

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