PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
 
The Modern Language Association is holding the first national conference in the humanities on disability studies, "Disability Studies and the University," on 5-7 March 2004, at the Emory University Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia. To view a tentative conference outline, visit http://www.mla.org/disabil_stud_conf_sessions.
 
The conference is scheduled to begin immediately after an interdisciplinary workshop on law and disability, presented by the Feminism and Legal Theory Project at the Emory Law School, sponsored by Woodruff Professor Martha Fineman. For information and to register for the Law Workshop, contact James Tobias at [log in to unmask] .
 
We encourage you to attend this timely conference or to support its goals by funding the attendance of a representative from your division or department. The intended audience is not experts in the field of disability studies, but rather those interested in learning about this important work.
 
You can register online. Registration materials and a tentative conference schedule are now available on the MLA Web site at http://www.mla.org/conference_on_disabi.
 
Disability is a fundamental facet of human diversity - people with disabilities make up the largest minority in the United States - yet critical analysis of disability lags behind the analysis of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and class both inside and outside the university. This conference will set the tone for future interdisciplinary study of disability in the humanities as well as influence campus-wide efforts to shape new, more inclusive learning environments. The wealth of talent and variety of perspectives on the conference program will make Disability Studies and the University a critical and transformative event.
 
On behalf of the Conference Planning Committee, we invite you to attend and to encourage others to do the same.
 
With good wishes,
 
Rosemary G. Feal
Executive Director
Modern Language Association
 
Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Faculty Conference Sponsor
Department of Women's Studies
Candler Library, Suite 128
Emory University
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