Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability - SFSU

Longmore Institute Receives Important Gift to Support SF State Students at the Intersection of LGBTQ and Disability Worlds

Visitor — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 22:22:50 +0000

A seventeen-year friendship between two campus administrators has blossomed into a significant gift to the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University. Al Alston, Norma Siani-Alston, and Eugene Chelberg

Norma Siani-Alston, recently retired from her position as Director of Special Events for the Office of the President, announced the $10,000 gift on September 16 to honor her dear friend Eugene R. Chelberg, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. The terms of her charitable gift annuity stipulate that "The Eugene R. Chelberg Fellowship will provide undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to gain valuable internship experience with the Longmore Institute on Disability. Preference in the award of the fellowship will be given to students active in both the LGBTQ and disability communities."

"This is an exciting breakthrough gift for many reasons," says Longmore Institute Director Catherine Kudlick. "It's the first in the country — and indeed the world — to openly tap students at this intersection; scholarships and opportunities tend to highlight one or the other of these identities, when in fact a significant number of people inhabit both." Kudlick points out that some of the most exciting scholarship in disability studies explores the intersections between queerness and disability.

Siani first met Gene in 2001 when he, as she put it, “was always haranguing me about ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues regarding the commencement ceremony and … was a pain in the butt!” One day Gene invited Norma to lunch to pick her brain regarding his upcoming wedding plans. “When Gene asked me for recommendations for where to hold their ceremony, for some reason, I said ‘let me be your wedding planner.’ He said ‘yes,’ and from then on we became the closest of friends.”

Siani also had a friendly teasing relationship with Paul Longmore who used a wheelchair. “We met when I worked for then-SF State President Corrigan. We always said hello to one another with Paul waving his foot at me and my waving mine right back at him.”

“When Paul passed, I was devastated, I lost a dear friend. I decided in his memory to donate to the Paul Longmore Institute. And now with this gift to Gene, I get to give to two dear friends at once!”

Siani’s husband Al Alston passed away in 2013 but his memory lives on through her generosity.

“And now thanks to her gift,” director Kudlick stated, “we’re well on our way to making sure a future Gene Pool keeps pushing for LGBTQ and disability rights.”

Longmore Institute Seeking Disability Studies WikiPedian

Visitor — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:35:55 +0000

This post is cross-posted from the Wiki Education Foundation site; view the original here. By Ryan McGrady on September 29, 2016. Definitions of disability are often cast in medical terms. While important, concentrating on that one aspect of a disability-related topic can mean inadequate coverage of other social, cultural, historical, economic, and political aspects. Writing a high-quality Wikipedia article about the subject thus typically means drawing from research in the sciences, but also in the social sciences and humanities. Getting access to those sources, however, can be a challenge for Wikipedia editors, who may run into barriers like paywalls. When Wikipedians can’t access the necessary materials about a subject, articles and perspectives within articles can be neglected.

For that reason, San Francisco State University (SFSU) is opening access to its library resources for a Wikipedian interested in disability studies.

As with other Visiting Scholars positions, the Wikipedians aren’t required to be physically present at the university. The only expectation is that they bring some of the articles they work on in that subject area to B-class or better over the course of a year. For most Wikipedians who would be applying for such a position, that’s the sort of activity they would be doing anyway, but now with access to high-quality research resources.

The opportunity is supported by SFSU’s Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, which works to challenge stereotypes and showcase the strength, ingenuity, and originality of disabled people. For Associate Director Emily Smith Beitiks, the Visiting Scholars program is a way to support the Institute’s mission by helping to improve public knowledge about disability on Wikipedia, using the rich resources collected by SFSU to build well-rounded multidisciplinary articles.

If you’re a passionate Wikipedian with an interest in this field, we’d love to help connect you. You can apply for a Visiting Scholar position here and, if you have questions, drop us a line: visitingscholars@wikiedu.org. For more information about the Visiting Scholars program, see the Visiting Scholars section of our website.

Tags:

disability studies

Emily Beitiks

J. Paul Leonard Library

Save the Date: Two Chances to Watch Films from Superfest 2015

Visitor — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 19:47:51 +0000

Missed out on the 2015 Superfest? Have no fear, the Superfest Showcase will be screening some of our best recent shorts at a San Francisco location near you!

Superfest: International Disability Film Festival is a showcase of juried films held in the San Francisco Bay Area, co-presented by the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Vision Impaired. For nearly 30 years, this annual competition has celebrated cutting-edge cinema that portrays disability in all its diverse, complex, and engaging facets. We are proud to be the longest running disability film festival in the world. Visit superfestfilm.com to learn more about the 2016 festival, October 22 and 23 in Berkeley and San Francisco.

Sunday, August 14th at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch (1-4pm in the Latino Hispanic Community Room)

Featuring:

Predators of Transylvania (2015 Disabled Filmmaker Award Winner) [7 min.]
Director: Julia Kolenakova; Slovakia

Nothing is quite as it seems in this Slovakian folklore-inspired animation.

To Be or Not To Be (2015 Excellence Award Winner) [61 min.]
Director: Aziz Zairov; Kazakhstan

An actor who is disabled rehearses Hamlet's soliloquy and questions whether to live or die.

Regione Caecorum (In the Land of the Blind) (2015 P.K. Walker Innovation in Craft Award) [3 min.]
Director: Drew Goldsmith; U.S.

If a society is built with blind people as the norm, it might be the person with sight who feels disabled.

The Gift (of Impermanence) (2105 Artistry Award Winner) [11 min.]
Director: Alex Ketley; U.S.

Axis Dance Company's choreography allows an audience to explore what is beautiful about the diverse body.

Rent-A-Crip (2015 Disability Comedy Award) [3 min.]
Director: Terry Galloway and Diane Wilkins; U.S.

A savvy group of disabled people have taken the reins from the able-bodied profiteers and put themselves in control.

Hole (2015) [15 min]
By Martin Edralin; Canada (explicit)

A daring portrait of a man yearning for intimacy in a world that would rather ignore him.

Bastion (2015 Best of Festival Short Winner) [11 min.]
Director: Ray Jacobs; U.K.

A completely bald man walks into a barber shop, his reflection in the window has told him it's time for a haircut.

All films are audio described and open captioned. For ASL interpreting or live captioning, contact Marti Goddard: marti.goddard@sfpl.org.

See event page here.

Tuesday, September 20th at SFSU's J. Paul Leonard Library Room 121 (12-1pm)

Featuring:

The Interviewer (2013 Best of Festival Winner) [13 min.]
Director: Genevieve Clay-Smith and R. Bryan; AUSTRALIA.

Thomas Howell gets more than he bargained for in his interview at a prestigious law firm; an insult about his tie, a rendition of Harry Potter, and the chance to change the lives of a father and son.