Talk focuses on black women’s speculative fiction, deconstruction of able-mindedness

Dr. Sami Schalk, assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will present a lecture and seminar at UIC on Thursday, Nov. 1 and Friday, Nov. 2, 2018.

Both events are hosted by the UIC Disability Cultural Center and UIC Women’s Leadership and Resource Center.

Lecture:
Thursday, Nov. 1
6 p.m.–8 p.m.
Richard J. Daley Library, Room 1-470
801 S. Morgan St.
Reception to follow. Books available for purchase.
RSVP: https://samischalkuic-lecture.eventbrite.com

Seminar:
Friday, Nov. 2
11 am – 1 pm
2028 University Hall
601 S. Morgan St.
RSVP: https://samischalkuic-seminar.eventbrite.com

Drawn from Schalk’s new book, “Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction” (Duke UP 2018), the talk explores how the concept of able-mindness is based on racial and gender norms, and argues that black women’s speculative fiction deconstructs able-mindedness by representing differing experiences of reality.

Using the examples of Phyllis Alesia Perry’s “Stigmata” and contemporary police violence against black people, this talk insists upon the intersectional and mutually constitutive nature of ableism and racism in our contemporary world.

Schalk’s research focuses on representations of race, disability, and gender in contemporary American culture. Dr. Schalk has published her work in journals such as Disability Studies Quarterly, Journal of Modern Literature, African American Review, and Journal of Popular Culture.

Co-sponsored by the African American studies, disability and human development, and English departments; Gender and Women’s Studies Program; and Gender and Sexuality Center.

For more information, please call (312) 413-1025 or email wlrc@uic.edu.

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