Disability Matters Online Symposia 2025: Honouring the Legacy of Professor Anita Ghai
An online symposium from India on 11th December, 2025.
The online symposium will take place via Zoom on Thu 11 Dec 2025 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm GMT / 5:30 pm-6:45 pm IST.
Book your tickets here.
If you have other specific access needs or would like help with registration, please get in touch via disabilitymatters@sheffield.ac.uk
What is Disability Matters?
Disability Matters is a major six year pan-national programme of disability, health and science research, funded by a Wellcome Trust Discretionary Award.
A key ambition of Disability Matters is to make disability the driving subject of research. We will be promoting scholarship that demonstrates the contribution of disability studies to a host of fields including medicine, medical humanities, medical sociology, science and technology studies, health sciences, population health as well as other key areas including education, law, business, legal studies, health psychology, social work, etc. Between 2023 and 2029, the programme is running a number of short and accessible Online Symposia.
We were fortunate to partner with India through Anita. She brought Disability Matters to India and India to Disability Matters, for which we are eternally grateful. As we all know, Anita was a foundational figure in Indian Critical Disability Studies, and her work has deeply shaped conversations about gender, identity, inclusion, power, culture, and activism. In Anita’s memory and to honour her legacy, we are organising an online symposium dedicated to centre Indian Disability Studies, its epistemology, theory, activism, and social engagement as it marks a year to Anita’s departure on 11 December. We hope to create a living archive that celebrates and extends the work of Indian Disability Studies, inspired by Anita Ghai’s scholarship, activism, and imagination.
The online symposium accompanies a special series of Disability Dialogues by Indian disability studies scholars reflecting on Anita's legacy and work. Read the contributions here.
The format of the symposium will be:
Introduction (5 minutes)
Three x spoken provocations (10 minutes x 3)
Q&A (20 minutes)
Online plenary and open discussion (15 minutes)
Close (5 minutes)
Total duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
Speakers
Prof. Shubhangi Vaidya is with the School of Interdisciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Studies at the Indira Gandhi National Open University. A sociologist by training, she has research interests in the areas of disability, gender and the family, with a special focus on neurodiversity. She is the author of ' Autism and the Family in Urban India: Looking Back, Looking Forward' ( Springer, 2016) and ' Embodying Motherhood: Perspectives from Contemporary India' co-authored with Anu Aneja ( Sage-Yoda, 2016). She is also engaged in awareness raising and advocacy for persons with disability and their families.
Sandeep R. Singh is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi, India where he teaches courses on Disability Studies, World Literature, Literary Comparison, Narratology and Life-Writing at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. He is pursuing his PhD titled “Writing Life, Narrating Self: Disability Discourse in the Works of Oliver W. Sacks” at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and he is due to submit by December 2025. He is also a co-applicant on the Disability Matters Project, a major six-year pan-national programme of disability, health and science research, funded by a Wellcome Trust Discretionary Award (2023 - 2029).
Dr. Sruti Mohapatra is a national icon in the disability rights movement - an author, scholar, international inclusion trainer, and tireless advocate for equity and accessibility. As the founder of Swabhiman, a leading nonprofit working in inclusive education, accessibility, and policy reform, she has conceptualized award-winning programs such as Anjali, Saksham, Prerana, and others that have influenced policy and practice across India. She has played a key role in shaping disability legislation, and serves on key national education and policy bodies. Dr. Mohapatra is a five-time TEDx speaker and recipient of over 77 national and international awards, including the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India. Her journey has inspired two films, one by the Films Division of India and another in Odia language, highlighting her contributions and spirit.
Time zones
We are a pan-national programme and welcome attendees from all over the world.
Please check the time of the event according to the your time zone as it may differ from what is listed above.
Access
When you purchase a ticket, you will receive a confirmation email containing the Zoom video link. You will receive a second reminder email closer to the event.
Automatic live captioning will be supporting the session. Written copies of the speaker’s talks will be made available before the session on our Disability Matters Scholarship Collection.
Attendees are welcome to join or leave the event at any time. Participating in the Q&A and discussion is optional.
A recording of the talk will be available after the event.
If you have other specific access needs or need help with registration, please get in touch via disabilitymatters@sheffield.ac.uk
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