BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY and Ethically Speaking at The Center for Ethics at the University of Central Florida (UCF)
ENTHUSIASTICALLY INVITE YOU TO:
Philosophy, Disability, and Social Change 6 (#PhiDisSocCh6)
January 28-30, 2026, Online
The Philosophy, Disability and Social Change conference series, now in its sixth year, comprises workshops, roundtables, and panel presentations by disabled philosophers and their allies whose cutting-edge research challenges members of the philosophical community to (1) think more critically about the metaphysical and epistemological status of disability; (2) closely examine how philosophy of disability is related to the tradition and discipline of philosophy; and (3) seriously consider how philosophy and philosophers contribute to the pervasive inequality and subordination that disabled people confront throughout the university and society more widely.
This year’s sixth edition of the conference will feature:
- an exploratory workshop on alliances between philosophy of disability and trans philosophy
- a provocative symposium on ableism, fascism, AI, and technology
- a recurring roundtable of disabled philosophy faculty who jointly identify the mechanisms and practices that produce the continuing exclusion of disabled philosophers and philosophy of disability
- fascinating panels on topics such as eugenic histories and presents; anarchy, Marxism, fascism, and disability; and the centennial anniversary of the birth of Michel Foucault, arguably the first disabled philosopher of disability
In its entirety, Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 6 (#PhiDisSocCh6) will highlight the diversity and range of approaches to critical philosophical work on disability and showcase the heterogeneity with respect to race, gender, nationality, sexuality, gender identity, culture, age and class of the community of disabled philosophers.
Philosophy, Disability, and Social Change 6 (#PhiDisSocCh6) is organized by: Shelley Lynn Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY), Melinda Hall (UCF), Jonathan Beever (UCF), Johnathan Flowers (CSUN), Julie Maybee (CUNY Graduate Center/Lehman), James Morris, and Gretchen E. Mahalic (UCF)
Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 6 (#PhiDisSocCh6) is the creation of BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY and the Center for Ethics at UCF and is also generously supported by:
The Department of Philosophy at UCF
The Philosophy Program at CUNY Graduate Center
The Department of Philosophy at Lehman College
An Anonymous Private Donor
The conference will take place entirely online. Registration is free and open to everyone. Captioning will be available.
Conference Program
All times shown are in EST (=GMT – 5hr; CET – 6hr; CST + 1hr; PST + 3hr).
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
10:00am-10:10am Welcome to #PhiDisSocCh6
Shelley Lynn Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY) and Melinda Hall (Central Florida)
10:10am-12:10pm Panel: The Politics of Identity and Identification
Caroline Christoff (Muskingum), “The Normativity of Neurodiversity: How Atypical Behavior Impacts Identity”
August Gorman (Oakland), “Am I the Problem? Reframing Perceived Burdensomeness in Suicide Prevention Ethics”
Clarissa Müller-Kosmarov (Warwick), “Phenomenal Fluctuations and Bodily Uncertainty: Toward a Phenomenology of Episodic Disability”
Chair: Jane Dryden (Mount Allison)
12:10pm-12:15pm Break
12:15pm-1:35pm Panel: Allies, Animosities, Besties, and Betrayal
Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril (Sheffield), “Politics of Urgency: A Dialogue Between Philippine Nakem Philosophy and Crip Theory”
Kristin Rodier (Athabasca), “Under Feminist Cover: Disability, Fatness, and the Politics of the Grotesque”
Chair: Tracy Isaacs (Western)
1:35pm-2:05pm Break
2:05pm-4:00pm Workshop: Forging Alliances, Philosophy of Disability and Trans Philosophy
Participants: C Dalrymple-Fraser (Toronto)
Gen Eickers (Osnabrueck)
Tamsin Kimoto (Washington at St. Louis)
Perry Zurn (American)
Participant Facilitator: Andrea Pitts (Buffalo)
Thursday, January 29, 2026
10:00am-10:05am Welcome to Day Two of #PhiDisSocCh6
Shelley Lynn Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)
10:05am-12:05pm Panel: On the Birth of Foucault and the Abnormal
Will Conway (Stony Brook), “’To Kill the Vanquished’: Rousseau at the Threshold of Biopolitics”
Stephanie Jenkins (Oregon State), “On Being Incorrigible”
T. Virgil Murthy (Carnegie Mellon), “Addiction as a Way of Life: Foucault, Friendship, and Possibilities of Disabled Closeness”
Chair: Shelley Lynn Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)
12:05pm-12:10pm Break
12:10pm-1:30pm Panel: Eugenic Histories and Presents
Tommy Curry (Edinburgh), “Not of MAN: The Ethnological Foundations of Racial Difference in the 19th Century”
John Henry Reilly (Duquesne), “American Eugenics, Early Psychometrics, and the Formation of Learning Disabilities”
Chair: Erica Bigelow (Washington)
1:30pm-2:00pm Break
2:00pm-4:00pm Symposium: Virtual Power: AI, Ableism, Racism, and Fascism
Raymond Aldred (McGill), “Confessions of an Indigenous AI Frankenstein”
Mich Ciurria (Public Philosopher), “Technofascism, Crisis Epistemology, and Disaster Ableism”
Johnathan Flowers (California State, Northridge), “Technoableism and the Curative Imaginary”
Damien Williams (North Carolina at Charlotte), “Fascist Bullshit: How ‘Generative AI’ Enacts and Enables Authoritarianism and Eugenics”
Chair: Fintan Mallory (Durham)
Friday, January 30, 2026
10:00am-10:05am Welcome to Day Three of #PhiDisSocCh6
Shelley Lynn Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)
10:05am-12:05pm Panel: Anarchist and Marxist Influences and Fascist Confrontations
Robert Chapman (Durham), “What is Health Fascism?”
Nic Cottone (Michigan State), “Capitalism, Reification, and the Naturalization of Disability”
Cal Nelson (Duquesne), “Anarchist Contributions to a General Theory of Visible and Invisible Marginalization”
Chair: Maeve McKeown (Groningen)
12:05pm-12:10pm Break
12:10-1:30 Panel: Being, Knowing, Doing
Ada Jaarsma (Mount Royal) and Bailey Szustak (Mount Royal), “Cripping, Making, Teaching”
Corinne Lajoie (Western), “Disability Accommodations, Epistemic Injustice, and Harms to Self-Trust”
Chair: Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril (Sheffield)
1:30pm-2:00pm Break
2:00pm-4:00pm Roundtable: Naming, Resisting, and Transforming the Ableist Mechanisms and Practices of Philosophy
Participants: Karin Boxer (Independent)
Emily R. Douglas (Vanier)
Sofia Jeppsson (Umeå)
Julie Maybee (Graduate Center, CUNY/Lehman)
Facilitators: Johnathan Flowers (California State, Northridge)
Melinda Hall (Central Florida)
4:00pm Closing Remarks
Shelley Lynn Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY) and Melinda Hall (Central Florida)
To register for Philosophy, Disability, and Social Change 6 (#PhiDisSocCh6), go here: https://ucf.zoom.us/meeting/register/WP_M_6bNTKaaqzxlh1Ex4A
For more information about the Philosophy, Disability, and Social Change conference series, email Shelley Lynn Tremain at sltremain <at> gmail.com.
BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 