Call for Interest – Disabled Academic Collective Blog

Theme - "Disabled Scholars (Not) Belonging in Higher Education

Unfortunately, many disabled academics are ostracized, tokenized, overworked, and unaccommodated in spaces of higher education. With this theme, we hope to highlight contributions that envision true disability inclusion and belonging in academia. Please note that this theme is designed to serve as a guide/prompt for anyone who’d benefit from it, and it is not a requirement for publication. Proposed by a new addition to the team, Jessica King, the theme suggests that disabled academics ideally belong in higher education and that we can design for their explicit inclusion.

Topics that you might consider writing about include: casual ableist language, lack of representation in administrative policy decisions, inaccessibility of department materials or documents, and many others.

Guidelines

• We’re accepting academic, literary, and artistic works for consideration. Examples include: academic essays, personal blogs, photography, music, art, poetry, media analysis, and others.

• All authors interested in pitching a blog piece to us can submit their proposals using the DAC Blog Interest Form

• Contributors will be responsible for providing any alternative texts, image/video descriptions, and/or any access content as applicable to their submissions. Please include this content in your initial submission(s), if possible.

• While content may address issues of discrimination (ex: racism, homophobia, misogyny, white supremacy, etc.), we will not accept any submissions that harm any community. Our values are embedded in intersectional disability justice, and this means advocating for all communities and only publishing works that empower conversations.

Interest versus Submission

To simplify the process for potential contributors, our interest form is for the sole purpose of receiving content details and contact information. An editor will contact you to request your work for review before making the final decision to accept or decline your submission.

Details about the guidelines and requirements are available in the “Submission Information” of the hyperlinked Google Form. If you'd like to review the prompts in advance, you may access in the tab Interest Form Prompts. To review the editing process for all submissions, you may access the tab Editing Process.

AI Policy

We recognize and support that some disabled academics use AI for accessibility purposes, but please do not include any AI-generated or AI-edited content. Tools for checking spelling and grammar are acceptable, but we ask that authors refrain from using technologies or features that change the wording of the text. For further inquiry regarding AI usage, please contact us by email.

Mission

The Disabled Academic Collective (DAC) exists to address ableism embedded and reinforced in higher education. Showcasing disabled scholars, students, and artists on our blog is one way we counter the ableism encountered by so many of us. We hope to highlight the disparities and accomplishments of disabled communities in higher education. Edited and coordinated by fellow disabled academics, we ensure that every submission is reviewed with mindfulness, intention, and care.

We’ve designed the process to be streamlined, accessible, and transparent for editors and contributors. Please review our guidelines before sending questions at disabledacademiccollective@gmail.com.

Questions or Concerns

If you have any questions or concerns that aren’t addressed in this document, please feel free to contact us at disabledacademiccollective@gmail.com.

We are so excited that you’re considering our blog as your piece’s home, and we look forward to collaborating with you soon!