Last week, I traveled to San Antonio to present research at the College English Association!
Though a short 3 day trip, I had a great time exploring the River Walk and Briscoe Art Museum. San Antonio was very hot and humid, but the river is nice and cool! It weirdly gives Pirates of the Carribbean and Jungle Cruise vibes, if you've ever been to a Disney theme park 🌴☠️🦜🌊
I enjoyed eating BBQ with the first Chapman panel that presented and prepared mentally for presenting at my first conference! (from left to right: Elizabeth Tran, Makena Metz, Audrey Fong, Karuna Hin)
My presentation was on a panel called Post-Pandemic Action Research: Pedagogical Responses to the Year of Zoom. My presentation was on "More than Accessibility: The Effect of Student Writing in a Disability-Forward Classroom," which was the results of an IRB-approved research study I conducted last semester!
I hope that my research can help classrooms become more accessible and equitable. I learned through surveying student responses after each major assignment,
that the language the students used to describe their relationship to their writing changed for the better over the course of the semester in a Disability-Forward classroom. By the end of the semester, there were no extremely negative statements about their work at all. I am very proud of this research! 😍
My own presentation went well - here's me and my panel buddies (from left to right: Makena Metz, Montez Jennings, and our panel chair Morgan Read-Davidson) after our panel. Thank you to Morgan for fostering this research from our research practicum class and being such a supportive boss and mentor!
While in San Antonio, I also learned about the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. I'm planning to submit a panel to present my thesis research on the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" there - so fingers are being crossed we get in! 🧜♀️
But before that, I'm presenting my Disabilility-Forward research next August at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) conference! I'm asking, how do we adapt a Disability-Forward pedagogy for classrooms with niche and specific student majors? In this case, stage management, technical theatre, acting, playwriting, directing, etc.
Please let me know if you're a teacher or facilitator who wants to read this research! I'm hoping to get it published soon, but willing to share a copy as needed. 🙏🏻
And last but not least, here's my favorite painting from the art museum! 🤠
Thanks for Reading!
Best,
Makena