Meet Our Team

Our Team

Infused with the spirit of the disability movement’s mantra, “Nothing About Us Without Us,” Inspiration Films places a focus on authentic storytelling, with a cast and crew composed almost entirely of disabled people, and a talent incubator model of filmmaking to mentor emerging directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors with disabilities. 

SERIES LEADERSHIP

The RENEGADES series is led by:

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  • Day Al-Mohamed is an author, filmmaker, and policy strategist with over 15 years of experience working on legislative and executive issues relating to disability. She just completed her tenure as the White House Director of Disability Policy responsible for all national issues relating to disability for the Biden-Harris Administration. Al-Mohamed directed the Civil War documentary, The Invalid Corps; and produced the documentary feature, Unseen, which will air on POV in March 2024. Al-Mohamed is a founder of FWD-Doc (Documentary Filmmakers with Disabilities) and a regular host on Idobi Radio’s Geek Girl Riot with an audience of 100k+ listeners. She was an advisor for Sundance Institute’s Accessible Futures Intensive program in 2021 and was named a “2021 Documentary New Leader” by DOC NYC. She was one of the primary authors of the Netflix-supported Toolkit for Inclusion & Accessibility: Changing the Narrative of Disability in Documentary Film from FWD-Doc.

  • Amanda Upson transitioned from legal practice in labor and employment law to become an independent producer. Her first film, Magnum Opus, a spy thriller with timely themes, premiered at the 2018 Virginia Film Festival. She is currently producing the social justice documentary, A Long March, 2022 Better Angels Lavine Fellowship Recipient, about Filipino-American veterans. Named one of FORBES “40 to Watch Over 40,” Upson speaks regularly about representation and accessibility, is the Interim Director of FWD-Doc, serves on the Inclusion and Structural Equality Committee of Documentary Producers Alliance, and was selected for the 2021 RespectAbility Entertainment Professionals Lab, as well as 2022 DOC NYC New Leader. She is an active member of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association, Colorado Disability Bar Association, and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar.

  • Charlotte Mangin is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 20 years of experience, and the creator, executive producer, director and writer of UNLADYLIKE2020, an innovative multimedia series for American Masters in honor of the centennial of women’s suffrage. She began her career with five years on the production staff of National Geographic Television & Film, followed by five years as a Story Producer for PBS’s award-winning international affairs series Wide Angle. Mangin was the Series Producer for America By the Numbers, a PBS public affairs series telling underreported stories about America’s changing demographics, and for Humanizing America, a digital shorts series profiling the diversity of the American experience, distributed by NBCNews.com. She served as the Interim Executive Director of the multimedia nonprofit organization Futuro Media in 2016-2017 and 2021-2022.

The RENEGADES series is hosted and narrated by:

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Black woman, braids piled high on her head, with pink shirt and intense pink eyeshadow, gazes into the distance. Her chin and cheek rest gently against her hand and muted gold jewelry glimmers from her necklace, bracelet and large earrings.

  • Lachi is an award-winning dance music recording artist and songwriter who advocates for disability inclusion, equity and accessibility in the music and entertainment industry. She is Grammys Board Governor, and Founder and President of the U.N. recognized RAMPD.org–a global network of music creators and professionals with disabilities, and host of the YouTube series “Off Beat - Going Blind & Staying Fabulous in NYC.” Lachi has collaborated on songs with artists such as Snoop Dogg, Styles P, DJ Maduk, Zafrir Ifrach, and Maxime Karouchi; she has amassed millions of streams on Spotify alone. Named a “new champion in advocacy” by Billboard, she’s held talks with the White House and the UN, and has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Essence, Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, and Good Morning America for celebrating intersectionality through her music, storytelling and fashion, and for her upbeat and unapologetic brand of disability pride.

PRODUCTION TEAM

The RENEGADES series is directed, produced and written by:

RENEGADES: Judy-Lynn del Rey: The Galaxy Gal

A smiling East Asian light skinned young man with short black hair and black glasses wearing a light blue button up, standing in front of a light blue backdrop that says Sundance Institute Episodic Lab.
Ryan Camarda stands in a courtyard with a tree and a red brick building in the background. Just behind him are film lights and a black camera. Camarda is wearing a brown flat hat with a black shirt and pants. He has a beard and is generally hairy

  • Jeremy Hsing is a humanistic sci-fi writer, mental health advocate, and second-generation Taiwanese immigrant based in Los Angeles. He specializes in using his psychology background (BA in Psychology and double minor in art history and film from UCLA) to create elaborate worlds that destigmatize mental health, deconstruct toxic masculinity, and challenge the model minority. Past experiences include being the Seasonal Episodic Lab Coordinator at Sundance, AAPI Student Lead at the Center for Scholars & Storytellers, Public Engagement Intern at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Development Intern at Film Independent, and Creative  DEI intern at WarnerDiscovery. Hsing recently co-wrote, produced, and directed the short Fish, which was an official selection at Asian American International Film Festival, Boston Asian American Film Festival, NewFilmmakers LA Film Festival InFocus: Asian Cinema, and winner of the Youth Grand Jury Prize at Astoria Film Festival. A Get Lit Screenwriters Lab Fellow, RespectAbility Entertainment Lab TV Writing Fellow, 1in4 Writers Mentorship Program Fellow, Academy Diverse Reader’s Program Certified Story Analyst, and Coverfly Best Unrepped Writers List 2022 Honoree, Hsing currently is mentored by Lee Isaac Chung through the Academy Gold Rising Mentorship Program and Lee Eisenberg through the Group Effort Initiative Mentorship Program.

  • Ryan Camarda is an accomplished documentary filmmaker, renowned for directing Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod, distributed by First Run Features. This film showcases Camarda's adept storytelling and explores Kevin MacLeod's profound influence on the digital creative sphere. In addition, Camarda made a significant impact with Unwavering Truth: Archive of Our Own, a short documentary focused on Neurofibromatosis Type 2. Drawing from personal experience as a disabled individual, his storytelling reflects a nuanced understanding of the intersection of disability and creativity. Camarda’s work stands as a testament to his ability to bring to light the stories of individuals who have made a meaningful impact on their fields. His filmmaking approach, marked by meticulous research and a nuanced understanding of his subjects, contributes to the cultural landscape of documentary cinema. In the dynamic realm of digital creativity, Ryan Camarda continues to be a driving force, using his craft to educate, entertain, and advocate for underrepresented communities.

  • Colin Buckingham is a Writer, Actor, and Producer based in Brooklyn, NY. His goal as a storyteller is to make projects that reflect the intersectional nature of disability and create opportunities for historically excluded, disenfranchised and marginalized persons. Originally from Washington, DC, he got his start in writing through choreographing action and stunt co-ordinating on multiple plays, indie films and webseries. Buckingham wrote, choreographed, produced and acted in the short film November Ninth'. He was a disability and dwarfism consultant for Tomorrow’s Today and another project TBA. He recently started his own production company, “Chromatic Lens.”

RENEGADES: Daniel K. Inouye: Life of Service

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Headshot of lighter skinned woman with long brown hair, hazel eyes, wearing floral scarf and black jacket.
Light skin African American female with straight shoulder length brown hair, wearing an orange cowl-neck sweater.

  • Tammy “TS” Botkin has been producing documentaries for seven years and directing for five. Her feature directorial debut is the Better Angels Lavine Fellow documentary, A Long March, which she created with a diverse crew under the guidance of the Filipino American community and broadcasts nationally in April 2024 via PBS member stations. She also co-produced the award-winning documentaries Her Turf (2018, pilot) and Mary Janes: The Women of Weed (2017, feature). A member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, Botkin’s Indigenous writing has garnered recognition at Austin Film Festival (2016) and Atlanta Film Festival (2018). In 2023, she received an INSITE Fund grant provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, via RedLine Contemporary Arts, to adapt one of her screenplay scenes from graphic novel format into a public art mural, along with a short documentary, of course. As a staunch supporter of diverse voices, she currently serves on the board of Women in Film and Media Colorado and volunteers across communities.

  • Angel Williams is an award-winning writer, and producer, who hails from Washington, D.C but currently lives in Denver, CO. She is an U.S. Army disabled veteran that was given an opportunity in 2014, to attend the Writer’s Guild Initiative, where she was encouraged to turn her short stories into screenplays. A mother of three disabled children and a wife of over 20 years, Williams turned her passion into a career. Even after having a stroke, she has not given up on the opportunities to be creative. She focuses on telling the stories of those who live with non-visible disabilities and family dramas. Williams had the honor of being a fellow with the 2022 cohort of Respectability Entertainment Lab. She has placed as a semi-finalist in The ScreenCraft Film Fund for her sci-fi project, Stone Fate, which also made Coverfly’s Red List, as well as her family drama Conversations with Mom. Currently she is developing a sports documentary and a historical drama feature.

RENEGADES: Celestine Tate Harrington: Building a Legacy

Headshot of a smiling dark-skinned Black woman with chin-length dark curly hair dressed in a black patterned shirt and light blue jeans on a blue and purple background.
Headshot of light skin Black woman with braids styled half up half down, dressed in a black jumper that wraps around her neck, and wearing pearl earrings.

  • Cashmere Jasmine is a Director of Afro-Caribbean descent who has worked across mediums including music video, independent film, and short-form digital media. After being diagnosed with End Stage Kidney Renal disease, she started her own media production company and produced several short films that went to dozens of festivals and garnered over 1.5 million views. As a Writer and Director she crafts genre-bending media that revolve around taboos and the complexities of identity seen through the lenses of class, race, disability, and even criminality; deconstructing perceptions with her real-life experiences with dark humor. In 2021, Cashmere was in the inaugural class of Amy Aniobi’s TRIBE, a mentorship program for TV writers, the Black Magic Collective’s All Access Fellowship, and RespectAbility’s Summer Entertainment Lab. She also received the Sundance Uprise grant for her short film, Oreo, which became a 2022 Slamdance Unstoppable Festival selection. Her feature Down the Rabbit Hole, about an irresponsible dialysis patient, earned her a spot in the Sundance Accessible Futures Intensive workshop. Her film for Disney’s Launchpad program has two NAACP award nominations and is now streaming on Disney+.

  • Marsha Hallager is a multifaceted writer, producer and director who creates groundbreaking and critical content. Hallager started her career in radio, in Philadelphia, PA. She credits radio as her entrée into the world of television and film production. She is an accomplished independent documentary filmmaker, writer, producer and rising director with a keen sense of storytelling. Hallager’s achievements are multi-disciplined – she has worked across various genres, including unscripted to scripted television to horror films and feature documentaries. Hallager served as one of the EPs and producers on the award-winning documentary, One Child Left Behind: The Untold Atlanta Cheating Scandal, and recently produced a music documentary featuring a GRAMMY award-winning artist. Her disability has taught her the value of resilience and perseverance, and she aims to create films that not only entertain and inform, but also inspire and empower audiences to overcome their own challenges. Through her work, Hallager aspires to highlight the emotional, physical, and societal barriers that individuals with invisible disabilities face on a daily basis.

RENEGADES: Thomas Wiggins: Composing the Future

Headshot of light skin Black woman with braids styled half up half down, dressed in a black jumper that wraps around her neck, and wearing pearl earrings.
Headshot of African American brown skin woman smiling into the camera, wearing wavy black hair, blue jean jacket and white sweater.
A headshot against a plain background of Diane J. Wright, a biracial Black woman with shoulder-length light pink and blonde hair, wearing dangling lighting bolt earrings, a black shirt, and large coral glasses.

  • Marsha Hallager is a multifaceted writer, producer and director who creates groundbreaking and critical content. Hallager started her career in radio, in Philadelphia, PA. She credits radio as her entrée into the world of television and film production. She is an accomplished independent documentary filmmaker, writer, producer and rising director with a keen sense of storytelling. Hallager’s achievements are multi-disciplined – she has worked across various genres, including unscripted to scripted television to horror films and feature documentaries. Hallager served as one of the EPs and producers on the award-winning documentary, One Child Left Behind: The Untold Atlanta Cheating Scandal, and recently produced a music documentary featuring a GRAMMY award-winning artist. Her disability has taught her the value of resilience and perseverance, and she aims to create films that not only entertain and inform, but also inspire and empower audiences to overcome their own challenges. Through her work, Hallager aspires to highlight the emotional, physical, and societal barriers that individuals with invisible disabilities face on a daily basis.

  • Tameka Citchen-Spruce works in the realms of Disability Justice activism, independent film production, screenwriting, and public speaking. With an unwavering commitment to advancing the cause of disability advocacy and authentic media representation, she stands at the forefront of positive change. In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Citchen-Spruce has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious 2021 ARC Detroit Advocate of the Year Award and the 2022 NACCD's Betty Williams Equal Opportunity Award. Additionally, she is a nominee for the 2022 Disability 30 List and a 2023 Unlock Her Potential Mentee, benefitting from mentorship under the guidance of socio-political comedian and executive producer, W. Kamau Bell. Citchen-Spruce's journey began at the age of 21 when she assumed the title of Ms. Wheelchair MI in 2006. In this role, she fearlessly spoke out against the abuse faced by women with disabilities, marking the inception of her impactful advocacy work. Citchen-Spruce then pursued studies in Broadcast Television, earning a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Oakland University. Drawing on this educational foundation, she seamlessly melded journalism with activism, realizing the profound impact of storytelling on shaping perceptions. Her commitment to justice extends over 15 years, advocating for affordable and accessible housing, combating voting oppression against people with disabilities, addressing racial and gender injustices, and championing health equity. Citchen-Spruce produced, wrote and co-directed her short film, "Justifiable Homicide," which not only garnered nominations but also secured an award. The documentary "My Girl Story," another testament to her storytelling acumen, has been selected for various prestigious film festivals. And now she started a media and DEIB consulting company, Living Unapologetically Media LLC.

  • Filmmaker, author, and disability advocate Diane J. Wright is the first Ford School Hawkins Family Disability Policy Fellow at the University of Michigan’s Center For Racial Justice and the voice behind Autastic.com. Wright is a biracial, multiply invisibly disabled Canadian-American of Afro-Caribbean descent. She collaborates with directors, screenwriters, and studios in creating authentic, inclusive, nuanced, and respectful representations of Black, disabled, and neurodivergent communities. Her collaborations, released and broadcast domestically and internationally, have earned audience and industry accolades. In 2018, she founded Autastic.com. Autastic has grown into a minority-lead initiative that provides resources and community to thousands of late-identified autistic adults, holds some of the only spaces dedicated to autistic people of color, and is the only resource of its size founded by a woman of color. Her most recent project to focus attention on the Black autistic community is the feature-length documentary #AutisticWhileBlack. With the support of the Center For Racial Justice at the University of Michigan she is also developing a manuscript highlighting the collected insights of thousands of Autastic community members along with research and practical strategies to guide adult-identified autistic people on their self-discovery journey.

RENEGADES: Brad Lomax: Creating Communities of Care

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A headshot of a light skin Black woman with brown curly hair, big silver hoops and a black v-neck shirt as she smiles into the camera.

  • With a diverse and accomplished career in filmmaking, theater, music, and education, Essien is a creative force driven by passion and purpose. His journey in film has seen him contribute to both feature and short films, culminating in his recent role as the writer and  director of a forthcoming film Teranga: An African Homecoming. Beyond filmmaking, he has left his mark on the stage, directing the U.S. premiere of "The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and the New York premiere of "Philomel" for Opera Works. A multifaceted artist, Essien is also the founder and bassist of the Equity and Social Justice Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to raising awareness and funds for non-profit organizations. Notably, he composed the theme for Jeffrey Robinson's podcast, "Who We Are." In education, Essien brings over two decades of experience as a teacher and leader. His expertise has been sought by prominent organizations globally, including Chan Zuckerberg, Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted, Gifted Institute (Denmark), Kind en Beeld, and African Leadership Group. Currently, Essien is shaping the future of filmmaking through an incubator program with FWD-Doc for filmmakers with disabilities.

  • Cara Reedy is the Founder and Director of the Disabled Journalists Association, a member organization of Storyline Partners. She is a journalist and producer who spent ten years of her career at CNN producing documentaries as well as writing for various verticals including Eatocracy and CNN Business. In 2019, she produced her most recent short doc for The Guardian entitled Dwarfism and Me, which was an exploration of the treatment of Dwarfs in American society. Reedy has spent the last three years studying disability and its coverage in the media. Along the way, she has had the opportunity to teach disability reporting in newsrooms. She also works in narrative change in the film and TV industry and is a member of the TV Academy Diversity Committee. Reedy is a mentor in the Disability Justice Project fellowship program which trains disabled disability rights advocates in the Global South how to be journalists. She is an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and spends her time between NYC and St. Louis.

POST-PRODUCTION TEAM

The RENEGADES series is edited, animated, composed, and made accessible by:

EDITING

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A 3/4 photo of a Black woman with short brown hair standing in front of a yellow wall.

  • Danya Abt is a film editor and director living in Brooklyn, NY where she keeps one foot planted in the documentary art world and one in more widely-distributed documentary forms. Her work as an editor includes feature documentaries and Tv series for Vice, Showtime, PBS and the History Channel. Her own films have played at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, the True/False and Camden Film Festivals, DOC NYC and others. Danya is a devoted member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and the Alliance of Documentary Editors.

  • Nancy Chidi is a Nigerian-British-American creative based in Brooklyn, NY. Working on documentary, commercial, scripted and unscripted projects for the last 8 years, she seeks to tell stories utilizing movement, color, and sound. As an Editor and Director, she is committed to authentic narratives that give way to open human connection. She recently directed and edited a documentary titled Breathing Happy. She has worked as an Editor for the Free The Work Case Study and the Candice Sickle Cell Fund docu-series, as well as an Assistant Editor for the PBS Terra series Fascinating Fails. Other projects include work with Ritual Arts Co, XBOX, Palette Group, Brilliant B Productions, Sky UK Documentary, Action & Allyship, SBD Media and Parachute Media.

  • Claudia is a social justice advocate and filmmaker raised in Los Angeles. Claudia served as associate editor on unseen (POV/PBS 2024) which received an Independent Spirit Award and shortlisted for best feature at the IDA documentary awards. unseen follows Pedro, an aspiring social worker, who must confront political restrictions as a blind, undocumented immigrant to get his college degree and support his family. She has also worked as an assistant editor on the award-winning short COVER/AGE (2019). In 2023 Claudia received a fellowship from the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Edit and Story Lab, as a contributing editor, and participated in the Field of Vision apprenticeship program. She is also a co-founder of the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective which promotes equity for undocumented immigrants in the film industry. Before making films, Claudia worked at the intersection of immigrant movement building and health work.

ANIMATION & MOTION GRAPHICS

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An animated image of a Brazilian Latin with dark hair and eyes wearing glasses, relaxing with hands in pockets, smiling off camera as they stand in a studio.
Caucasian person with brown hair and clear glasses wearing a green shirt with a striped collar. They are in front of an out-of-focus forest background.

  • Adriano Araújo dos Reis Botega is a multi-disciplinary VFX, Motion, and Technical Artist. Originally from the state of São Paulo in Brazil, they specialize in technical innovation and dynamic visual effects for screen, immersive, and real-time spaces. Their love for animation as a storytelling medium began when working in television and advertising as a Motion Graphic Designer in Brazil, managing motion graphics, animation, and technical elements in high-end client-facing environments. Their international and acclaimed work spans documentary, narrative, commercial, gaming, immersive, and experimental, often with a focus on Disability and immersive accessibility. Recent works include Rising Tides, Raising Voices (Disability Justice Project), We Are Ghosts (Tamarind Juice Productions), and Monstrous Me (Ride the Omnibus/IndieVISIBLE Entertainment).

  • Amelia Bianchi is an animator, illustrator, writer, and marine biologist with a passion for creating compelling fictional worlds. Their professional experience includes the entire creative production pipeline with expertise in idea generation, character creation, and worldbuilding. While able to execute accomplished projects on their own, Bianchi also enjoys working with teams on larger works. Their experience in multiple fields provides a well-rounded and unique viewpoint to any project.


MUSIC & ACCESSIBILITY

Brown skin Black man with a beard and mustache wearing a blue blazer over a Carolina blue crew neck shirt.
A bold graphic of capital letters reads: D-PAN, Deaf Professional Arts Network. The “D” is colored in D-PAN’s signature bright green.
A blue-gray box with large white capital letters SADC in the middle and a small, pale blue speaker poking out of the letter C with sound waves emanating from it. Beneath, a row of small white dots and the tagline "Describing Society."

  • Carvin Garland Haggins is a Grammy Award Winning and Multi-Platinum Selling Song Writer, Producer, Engineer, Co-Founder of Karma Productions and the creator of Ethical Music Entertainment. The Philadelphia native has written and produced hit songs for Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Miguel, Faith Evans, Justin Timberlake, Raheem DeVaughn, and Musiq SoulChild. Carvin has always believed that the best songs come from real life experiences, and has earned a reputation for writing songs that “mean something.” Haggins has been making music since he was 11, and has developed a unique style. In the 1990’s Carvin began working as a producer at “A Touch of Jazz” (ATOJ) for DJ Jazzy Jeff. It was there that Carvin started getting a lot of recognition for his work. It wasn’t long before his songs started making an impact in the music industry. Carvin’s early work was featured on “The Nutty Professor II,” “Love Jones,” and the “Rush Hour 2” movie soundtracks. He also collaborated on Will Smith’s soundtrack for the movie “Wild Wild West.” Haggins is the creator of the Ethical Music Entertainment, one of the founders of the production team TheRing, and one of the founders of the Creative Minds Performing Arts School. He was a teacher at Chester Community Charter School and on the board of directors for the Recording Academy-Philadelphia chapter. He has received numerous honors for his work and service, including being named a Creative Ambassador for Philadelphia, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence and Innovation for BMM 2012, and was recognized for his accomplishments and community service, at the 16th Annual Artist Ball in Philadelphia. Two grammys, twenty five grammy nominations, thirteen ASCAP awards and over eighty million records sold. He’s currently a member of the Philadelphia Task Force, an organization created by the city to help the creative arts.

  • Since 2006, D-PAN has pioneered the art form of creating high-quality American Sign Language (ASL) video content. A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization originally founded to make music and music culture accessible to the millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United States, D-PAN has grown and evolved to meet the ever-evolving landscape of accessibility in media. D-PAN is a household name in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and has become the gold standard in specialized ASL access to landmark cultural moments, including but not limited to the presidential debates, accessible music videos, documentaries, and more. D-PAN has grown its access services beyond ASL interpretation with captioning, voiceovers, access consulting, and more. For RENEGADES, our team included Sean Forbes, Access Producer; Jillian McBride, Access Coordinator and Captioner; and Noah Rangel, Access Editor.

  • Social Audio Description Collective produces high-quality audio description that is true to the world and to the artworks we describe. Members of our collective are BIPOC, Blind, Disabled, women and/or LGBT+, and we produce AD by a blind-centered approach. For RENEGADES, our all-disabled team included writers Cheryl Green and Oliver Baker, Blind reviewers Robert Kingett, Nefertiti Matos Olivares, and Bex León, and narrators Thomas Reid and Tanja Milojevic.

HUMANITIES ADVISORS

The RENEGADES series consults with scholars of disability history:

ADVISING

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White woman with long gray hair looks at the camera, wearing a black shirt and gray jacket.

  • Michael A. Rembis has authored or edited many books, articles, and book chapters, including: Defining Deviance: Sex, Science, and Delinquent Girls, 1890-1960 ; Disability Histories co-edited with Susan Burch; The Oxford Handbook of Disability History co-edited with Catherine Kudlick and Kim Nielsen; and Disabling Domesticity. At the University at Buffalo, Rembis expanded the Center for Disability Studies by creating a formal Master's (MA) degree concentration in Disability Studies and a graduate certificate in Disability Studies, as well as the Center's oral history project. Rembis has served on the American Historical Association's Committee on Disability and the Board of Directors of the Society for Disability Studies. He was elected Vice President of the Society for Disability Studies in 2013 and President in 2014.

  • Susan Schweik has been a visionary leader in disability studies at UC Berkeley for more than two decades. She is co-founder and co-director of the disability studies center there, and the author of The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public, Beginning With Disability: A Primer, and A Gulf So Deeply Cut: American Women Poets and the Second World War. She is currently completing a book tentatively titled Unfixed: How the Women of Glenwood Asylum Overturned Ideas about IQ, & Why You Don't Know About Their Work. A recipient of Berkeley's Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence, she was co-coordinator of the Fellowships in Disability Studies post-doctoral program.

  • Jaipreet Virdi is a historian of medicine, technology, and disability. She is author of Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History and co-editor of Disability and the Victorians: Attitudes, Legacies, Interventions, and has published articles on the histories of deafness, prosthetics, and medical technologies. Dr. Virdi is collaborating with Dr. Coreen McGuire (Durham University) on her next book, Setting Standards: Phyllis Kerridge and the Science of Disability, which traces the historical roots of scientific research on disabilities in Britain and the role of women scientists. Dr. Virdi is Board Member of the Disability History Association and serves as the Executive Editor for its blog, All of Us. 

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