Staff-Faculty Accessibility Group
Who We Are
The Staff-Faculty Accessibility at Brandeis group includes staff and faculty who identify as disabled along with peers who support them.
Focused on accessibility-related issues that arise at work and the workplace, the Staff-Faculty Accessibility Group may help develop resources related to accessibility and disability-at-work, organize disability-related events, and engage in other activities as members determine, while also providing support and advocacy where needed.
Events
In honor of the upcoming Neurodiversity Celebration Week (March 18–24, 2024), we're talking about neurodivergent staff and faculty! We welcome your comments on how we might support and include neurodivergent people in our workplaces and work processes. All comments published will be made anonymous, displaying only campus role (e.g., staff, faculty, student, colleague). Our comment section begins with the comment below by a staff member.
We have been receiving submissions and will continue to post them throughout the month (extended into April):
If you'd like to submit a comment, please email us at Staff-Faculty Accessibility Group. Please note that submission does not guarantee publication—we will select those comments most appropriate for the theme of supporting and including neurodivergent staff and faculty and may edit for length and other needs.
Thank you for supporting neurodivergent staff and faculty!
Last year, we partnered with the Rose Art Museum to host an event focused on disability as creativity. In the artist's studio, in the workplace, at home, and in public: everywhere.
On March 8, Gannit Ankori, the director of the Rose Museum, gave a public online lecture on Frida Kahlo as a disabled artist. Kahlo is often discussed in other ways due to her wide-ranging resonance, but her disabilities were also part of her life and work.
Phantom Limbs: Frida Kahlo, disability and art
March 8 | 12:30 p.m. | Online, with ASL interpretation
In this program, Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Museum at Brandeis University, details how the life and work of Frida Kahlo are a potent rejection of ableist discourse and affirm an alternative way of being.
Co-sponsored by the Staff-Faculty Accessibility Group and the Rose Art Museum, with additional support from the Brandeis Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and the Brandeis University Staff Advisory Committee.
See photographs of Frida Kahlo's house in the sidebar.
From the Archives
What may have been the first event at Brandeis to call attention to the demand for disability rights was held in 1983. Based on archival holdings, it is likely that the play "You Can't Turn Off the Stars," performed by a theater company composed of both disabled and non-disabled actors, was performed on campus on what was called Disability Awareness Day. The events seem to have been organized by Professor Irv Zola, renowned disability studies scholar who taught in the Sociology Department at Brandeis and was the first editor-in-chief of Disability Studies Quarterly.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University.
The first photograph shows Irv Zola, who is at a podium, with a member of the theater company nearby; the theater-company member may be signing in ASL. The second photograph shows a man holding a poster for the play.
How to Contact Us
Email: staff-faculty-disability-group@brandeis.edu
Get Involved
To become a group member, please attend an upcoming meeting or contact us at the email address above.
Brandeis Resources Related to Disability and Accessibility at Work and the Workplace
One of the Accessibility Group's main activities is to help develop accessibility resources related to work and the workplace. The following are examples of what should be a growing list:
- Lurie Institute for Disability Policy's Disability@Work 2021 Blog Collection
- 7-Day Neurodiversity Inclusion Challenge (Day 6 on Employment)
- I Want to Talk About ADHD...
Campus Resources for Staff and Faculty
A non-exhaustive list of resources that may be helpful:
- ADA/Section 504: Explanation of the main laws that apply with respect to disability. See section III for Faculty and Staff.
- Identity at Work/Disability: The Hiatt Career Center's webpage contains a lot of information about disability in the hiring process and the workplace and about disability disclosure and networking. Though written for students and alumni, it may be helpful for current employees as well.
- Brandeis Service Animal and Emotional Support Animal Policy
- Campus Accessibility Committee
- Web Accessibility
- Accessibility Issue Reporting Form
- Disability Accommodation and Complaint Process (under Human Resources at Brandeis)
- Accommodation Grievance Process (under the Brandeis Office of Equal Opportunity)
- University Ombuds
- Office of Equal Opportunity: See also the Office of Equal Opportunity's Policies and Procedures.
- Accident/Injury Reporting Tool: Brandeis employees, student employees, and lab personnel can use this tool to report an injury, accident, near-miss, or health- and safety-related issue that occurred while at Brandeis. Also see the Quick Sheet for information.
Resources for Students
If you are looking for accessibility resources for students, several of the resources listed above may be helpful. Also see:
Thank you to all who joined us for the workshop on Advancing Disability Justice: Creating an Inclusive Work Environment for All Colleagues. This workshop, which will be repeated, aims to create an open and welcoming environment to discuss issues around work and disability.
This workshop is for staff, faculty, and students preparing to enter the workforce. It introduces the concept of disability justice and attendees explores how disability justice might improve the inclusion of people with disabilities within the workplace.
Please email us if you have questions: staff-faculty-disability-group@brandeis.edu.
Find the full calendar for Disability, Inclusion, Equity, and Accessibility Month at Brandeis.
Disability Day of Mourning is on March 1st. This annual event calls attention to the number of disabled people who have been and continue to be killed each year by family members, caretakers, and others.
Members of campus can learn about the DDOM by visiting the display being held this year from February 26th through March 4th (update: still ongoing) in Zinner Forum of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. The display is presented by the Heller Student Disability Working Group.
Deisvergent call to staff, students, and faculty for video submissions on accessibility. What does accessiblity mean to you? And other questions.
Click on image below for submission information.
Frida Kahlo's House
The Staff-Faculty Accessible Brandeis group is pleased to be able to display select photographs of Frida Kahlo's house, where she lived from 1929 to 1954. These photographs were taken by Tere Rodriguez of Brandeis International Business School, who graciously offered them to us for display.
Juxtaposed photographs of the entrance way to "Casa Azul," Frida Kahlo's house. Bienvenidos a la casa de Frida, where Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived from 1929 to 1954.
Juxtaposed photographs of Frida Kahlo's workspace, with her wheelchair in view.
Photo credits: Tere Rodriguez