Spring 2025 reading groups to discuss Against Technoableism and Minding Bodies

Innovative Learning and the Purdue Teaching Academy invite Purdue instructors and staff to sign up in January to join two reading groups in Spring 2025.

  • The new Accessibility Reading Group will explore Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement by Ashley Shewduring three virtual meetings.
  • Purdue’s Faculty Teaching and Learning Reading Group will meet on-site at West Lafayette and Indianapolis locations to discuss Minding Bodies: How physical space, sensation, and movement affect learning by Susan Hrach.

Accessibility Reading Group:
Against Technoableism

The new Accessibility Reading Group, sponsored by Innovative Learning, brings together readers from Indianapolis and West Lafayette locations to discuss accessibility, ableism, and their implications on teaching and learning. For the Spring semester, participants will read Against Technoableism: Rethinking who needs improvement, 2023, by Ashley Shew, a bioethicist professor, self-described as a “hard-of-hearing chemobrained amputee with Crohn’s disease and tinnitus.” Using witty prose, Dr. Shew takes us on a thoughtful journey about creating more accessible futures by intentionally including perspectives from the disabled community. Shew coined “technoableism,” which is a “belief in the power of technology that considers the elimination of disability a good thing…it’s a classic form of ableism…a bias in favor of nondisabled ways of life.” Against Technoableism is part of Norton Shorts, which are books written by leading scholars. We will discuss Shew’s ideas together and make connections to what we do on a daily basis.

Participants in the Accessibility Reading Group will read Against Technoableism over three virtual meetings to discuss ideas, theories, and the implications on our learning environments. These meetings will be held Thursdays, 1-2 p.m. ET, on the following dates: Feb. 13, March 13, and April 17. There will be opportunities for asynchronous engagement as well.

Interested readers should fill out the online questionnaire by Friday, Jan. 17. Some physical copies of the book are available, but you may request your own copy via the questionnaire. 

Accessing physical copies of the book: 

Those who cannot make it this semester but are interested in future accessibility reading communities, or who have suggestions for future books/topics, may contact Leslie Miller at mill3160@purdue.edu.  

Faculty Teaching & Learning Reading Group: Minding Bodies

Minding Bodies book cover

The Teaching Academy and the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) will again sponsor Purdue’s Faculty Teaching and Learning Reading Groups, which bring together faculty in small groups to discuss how recent books about the classroom and teaching and learning may inform their approach to teaching. The Spring 2025 sessions will discuss Minding Bodies: How physical space, sensation, and movement affect learning by Susan Hrach. This book explores how attuning to aspects of the learning environment and the learners themselves can shift the focus of learning from purely mental efforts to a more embodied, sensory-rich experience. As humans we are not robots or “brains on sticks,” we have emotions and dreams, we need food and rest, and our bodies work as an integrated system to support our thriving. This book explores the idea that all thinking is grounded in the body and its environment. It offers practical strategies for educators to create more effective and inclusive learning environments. The book is available online through Purdue Libraries and physical copies will be available for those who prefer.

Participants will read the book over three sessions throughout the semester to discuss the ideas, theories, and application for this semester and in the future. Onsite sessions will be held in both Indianapolis and West Lafayette. Participants can choose their date and location according to their schedules for each week:

  • Thursdays, 1-2:30 p.m., Feb. 20, March 6, and April 3 at Purdue’s Indianapolis location
  • Fridays, 1-2:30 p.m., Feb. 21, March 7, and April 4 at Purdue’s West Lafayette location

Faculty who would like to participate during Spring 2025 should fill out an online questionnaire by Friday, Jan. 31, providing information about themselves and their availability. Those who cannot make it this semester but are interested in faculty reading and learning communities, or who have suggestions for future books/topics, should contact Annika Kraft at arkraft@purdue.edu or Tracey Birdwell tbirdwel@purdue.edu.

Innovative Learning is Purdue’s hub approach to connect instructors to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Innovative Learning members include the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries and the School of Information Studies, and Purdue University Online. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.