Papers in this session will explore spirituality and morality as it emerges from specific disability locations and contexts: 1) Humanistic Deaf spirituality emerges in fiction and role playing games, and Deaf players create meaning in the midst of the struggle for self-determination and autonomy in the face of continued encroachment on Deaf communities, languages, identities, and bodies. 2) Black disabled men bring wisdom to the struggle towards thriving, esp. in the spirituality arising in the lives of Black disabled men, spirituality that is a profound source of strength and inspiration marked by softness and an ethics of care. 3) Nineteenth-century epileptic colonies highlight how epileptics were positioned on the borderline between madness and sanity, and how religious ideals and practices linked with medical authority, valorizing eugenic biopolitics and positioning religion as a moral good and disciplinary strategy.
Through examination of the fictional world of Sara Nović’s novel Tru Biz, the Inspiriles role playing game developed by Hatchling Games, Sign: A game about being understood from Thorny Games, and the online role playing game, Deafverse, this paper will track the expression of a humanistic Deaf spirituality rooted in finding hope and creating meaning in the struggle for self-determination and autonomy in the face of continued colonialist encroachment on our communities, languages, identities, and bodies.
This paper takes a multidisciplinary and multilevel look at Black disabled men in society as they struggle towards thriving. As we look at constructs of masculinity, ableism, and a theology that promotes wellness, what wisdom do Black disabled men bring to the table?
Nineteenth-century experts produced medical theories in which the physical integrity of the brain dictated one’s ability to recognize morality or perform it. Psychobiological health thus determined the extent to which one could be moral. In the later nineteenth century, some states began building new institutions to segregate certain types of disability, including epilepsy. Medical experts argued that epileptics straddled the line dividing sanity from madness. Even sane epileptics, however, were typically considered morally suspicious and a dangerous threat to others.
Modeled after Germany’s Bethel epileptic colony, New York’s Craig Colony for Epileptics absorbed an old, remote Shaker site in order to segregate epileptics from everyone else. Once institutionalized, epileptics’ lives were managed for them. Like most US epileptic colonies, Craig saw religion as a moral good and helpful disciplinary strategy. Chaplains’ religious ideals and practices conversed with medical expertise, valorized eugenic biopolitics, and anchored religious services in medical authority.
Set up room with wheelchair cut outs in audience. | ASL to spoken English interpretation