Originally presented Friday, April 8, 2022 by Elizabeth (liz) Anh Thomson, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago

Like other identity cultural centers on U.S. campuses, disability cultural centers (DCCs) emerged as safe spaces for people who share a marginalized identity to develop pride in disability identity, create community, share disability culture, and challenge ableism. Although most campuses now have a person, or an entire Disability Resource Center (DRC), dedicated to improving disability access on campus, many campuses do not yet have a DCC. This session will present an overview of DCCs and describe recent research on one DCC’s impact on disabled students. Then, we'll explore together how DCCs and DRCs can be in collaboration with each other.