LMU Disability Studies Conference Teaches Us About Being Human

LMU hosted its second annual Disability Studies and Advocacy in Los Angeles Conference: DSALA & Habitable Worlds in late March 2026. This year's theme, "AI, Ethics, and Social Justice for People with Disabilities," focused on disability as part of the human condition and as something to be embraced rather than hidden or "fixed." The focus felt especially timely amid the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, which increasingly reflects and amplifies the biases already embedded in society.

Spearheaded by LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Professors Amanda Christy and Mairead Sullivan, the conference brought together LMU faculty, staff, and students alongside scholars, activists, and technology makers from Los Angeles and beyond. Participants represented institutions including MIT, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University. The day featured workshops, panels, research presentations, and collaborative conversations aimed at building knowledge and fostering community in support of a more inclusive world.

LMU is home to a growing intellectual community in disability studies, anchored by the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation. This work is further supported by LMU's first Mellon Foundation grant, Habitable Worlds: A Disability, Ethics, and AI Think Tank, an interdisciplinary initiative led by Professor Sullivan, and strengthened by a new undergraduate minor in disability studies directed by Professor Christy.

One of those students, Isabella Ribeiro '28, a psychology major with double minors in applied developmental psychology and disability studies, opened the conference with remarks. "I'm not going to lie, I think there was a shared feeling of fear, anxiety, and excitement on the first day of class when Prof. Christy said we would be organizing and running a national conference," Ribeiro said. "I believe I can speak on behalf of our entire class and say that this was truly a transformative and enjoyable experience. For me personally, I've gained more confidence in myself as a student, organizer, and person."

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, affectionately known as RGT, was the conference's keynote speaker. Professor emerita of English and bioethics at Emory University and a leading voice in disability justice and culture, Garland-Thomson delivered a moving, relatable, and thought-provoking presentation. Her talk explored the "Habitable Worlds" paradox: as technology makes the world more livable for people with disabilities, it simultaneously creates pressures, and even expectations, to eliminate disability.

An English professor at her core, RGT approaches disability through a humanistic lens. During her lecture, she invited the audience to consider disability as essential to understanding what it means to be human. She took the audience on a journey through art, literature, music, and design, tracing disability's presence across cultural history. "Oedipus" begins with disability, a broken foot, and ends with another, when Oedipus blinds himself. John Milton wrote "Paradise Lost" while blind. Beethoven composed his most profound symphonies after losing his hearing. Iconic blind Black musicians like Thomas Wiggins, Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles shaped modern music. "Moby-Dick" and "The Sound and the Fury" center on disabled protagonists. The examples unfolded one after another, across centuries and art forms.

Throughout the day, sessions explored topics including "Advocacy, Access, and Agency," "AI and Disability Ethics," and "Lived Experiences and Storytelling." These conversations created meaningful opportunities for LMU faculty and Information Technology Services staff to share expertise alongside alums, including Alexis Harris, a graduate of the Women's and Gender Studies and Bioethics programs who is now in the third year of a Ph.D. program at the University of Utah. After lunch, the conference continued with a poster session in which students presented their research, highlighting the depth and diversity of emerging scholarship in disability studies.

Yvette Castellanos '26, a health and human sciences major and minor in health and society, another student in Professor Christy's "Gender, Race, and Disability" course, also spoke at the conference. "As a class, we come from a wide range of backgrounds: different fields of study, lived experiences, and knowledge bases. That diversity is precisely what makes our dynamic so meaningful; it reflects the belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table," she said. "Collective change happens when we take what we gain in spaces such as these, back into our own communities and areas of work, contributing our distinct perspectives, skills, and networks to the ongoing pursuit of justice."