CURRENTS: Drew Holladay (ENGL) and Ashley Minner (AMST)

Assistant Professor, English, UMBC

This talk will discuss disability justice activism and its critiques of cultural discourse about mental health. Drew Holladay will offer a framework for combining insights across various disciplines, from the humanities to the sciences, to foster public accountability for social injustice. He proposes the concept, "neurodivergent embodiment," as one way to keep the experiences and arguments of disability activists at the center of academic theory-building.

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Professor of the Practice and Folklorist, American Studies

Director, Public Humanities Program, UMBC

Following WWII, thousands of Lumbee Indians moved from their tribal homeland to Baltimore, settling in an area that bridges Upper Fells Point and Washington Hill. In what they called their “reservation,” they established churches, a community center, restaurants, and stores, but today, only two active American Indian community-owned sites remain. Ashley Minner will discuss her project to map East Baltimore's “reservation," which she sees as a reclamation of history, space, and belonging.