October 14, 2026
Steep Steps & The Retrofit: A Discussion on Academic Ableism by Dr. Jennifer Gagnon
About
Join us for a facilitated discussion of Jay Dolmage’s Academic Ableism, exploring how ableism shapes academic spaces, practices, and institutions. The session will offer an opportunity to reflect collectively on accessibility and consider how we can identify and address barriers within our own contexts.
The discussion will focus particularly on two chapters from the book: “Steep Steps” and “The Retrofit,” which offer useful frameworks for thinking about accessibility, institutional structures, and the ways academic environments can create or reinforce barriers.
Participants will be invited to engage in conversation and share reflections, experiences, and ideas for creating more accessible spaces. The session will also include opportunities to discuss practical approaches and activities related to accessibility.
We recommend skimming the chapters before attending this discussion. Both chapters are available as open-access readings through JSTOR:
“Steep Steps” (Dolmage, 2017, Chapter 1, pp. 41–66)
“The Retrofit” (Dolmage, 2017, Chapter 2, pp. 67–98)
Dr. Jennifer M. Gagnon (she/they) (PhD, Political Science, University of Minnesota, BA, UBC) is a Lecturer in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media. She is the creator and President of UBC’s Disability Affinity Group which works towards the goals of community care and Disability Justice (https://disabilityaffinitygroup.ubc.ca). She was the EDI Scholar in Residence with UBC Library for 2025/2026 and served on UBC’s Accessibility Committee 2023-2026. She has taught in a wide range of programs including Academic Writing, Classics, International Education, Equity and Inclusion, Political Science, Violence Prevention, and more. Her research is interdisciplinary and embraces topics in Disability Studies, political theory, qualitative methods, accessible healthcare, substance use disorders and disability rights, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), feminism, and gender. As a scholar in Disability Studies, her research focuses on academic ableism, gender, intersectionality, and Disability Justice. She is the PI for the Disabled Voices Project which aims to surface the narrative experiences of Disabled people in post-secondary settings. As an advocate, she leads workshops on Disability Justice, accessibility, consent culture, safer supply, and 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion. She is a recipient of the 2021 Killam Teaching Prize at UBC which recognizes excellence in teaching innovation. Dr. Gagnon identifies as a bisexual settler and Disabled person, and strives to bring her whole self to her advocacy, teaching and research. She is also a board member with Heeling Assistants Canada, which provides professional-quality service dog training to disabled people raising and training their own service dogs.
This event is offered as a part of Access Quest.
3:00pm - 4:00pm PT