Introduction & Table of Contents
About Me
Sam Weiss is a white, queer, non-binary, disabled & chronically ill grad student at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. They grew up in rural Kansas and lived in Oregon before moving to DC. Their academic interests are in disability studies, queer studies, trans studies, accessible and equitable pedagogy, and learning design (hence, this project). Outside of school, they love baking, reading, hugging their friends & two cats, and dyeing their mohawk-mullet different colors. They miss the huge trees and cold beaches of Oregon desperately, and the wide, dark skies of Kansas a little bit less. They hope to one day teach students and learn how to preserve jams.
About This Project
I have chosen queer speculative disability narratives because I believe strongly in the power of imagining futures or alternate realities that center marginalized communities. This project includes a wide variety of representation, both from the disability and LGBTQIA+ communities and from other marginalized communities. I have incorporated this variety of representation because I believe in collective liberation, and because there are many of us that exist at different intersections of marginalization. Sharing one another’s stories is one way of learning to understand and advocate for one another. This collective understanding and care is essential to our journey towards a more just future.
I have divided the content of this syllabus/archive into units based on theme. Each of these categories holds annotated examples of source material that utilize speculative form to advocate for queer disabled futures and/or alternate realities. These sources explore and exhibit a variety of identity categories and experiences of queerness and disability. These are noted in the annotations, as well as the (publicly known) identity categories of the authors or creators of the material. There is also a further reading section that lists un-annotated additional source material. The community contribution section provides a space for community members to give feedback on source material, suggest new source material, and give any other input about the project. The responses are publicly recorded in a spreadsheet that is also linked in the community contributions section. In addition to source material suggestions, I invite and encourage discussion around how to better incorporate anti-racism and queer disability justice into this project. There is a glossary that defines some of the terms that I use in this project. These definitions are meant to explain how I am using these terms within the parameters of this project. They are not meant to encapsulate everyone's experiences or identities. You can find the works cited page at the end of this project.
Thank you for taking time to engage with this project. I hope that you connect with this work, and I invite any thoughts, feelings, ideas, etc. in the contribution page.