Olympics/Paralympics, Beijing, and a wheelchair-accessible subway system

(This news story originally appeared on the Wired blog, with credit to be given to BA Haller over at the Media and Disability blog.)

 Snapshot of Beijing subway station with a train in the station.  In the foreground, the viewer sees a wheelchair symbol on the platform indicating an accessible entrance and exit. ST

In what may be the most significant improvement in human rights brought about by the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, Beijing has become less of a Forbidden City for the disabled. Even though more than one million disabled people live within its city limits, Beijing’s crowded subway was practically inaccessible to anyone not able to rush to the front of the platform on their own two feet. Now, according to the official Chinese government information site china.org.cn, the improvements made in preparation for the Games will become permanent, allowing disabled riders to travel without barriers.

 ”I can’t believe this is true. Three hours ago I was at home, and now I’m here with all these others watching Paralympic Games competitions,” randomly-selected wheelchair-bound Beijing citizen Wang Shufen said. “The volunteers and subway and bus workers were really helpful. Without them, I would never have made it.” Of course, China.org.cn made sure to note that the 70-year-old Wang was smiling all through her interview, and never mentioned whether she lived ten feet or ten miles from the stadium. Still, for a city that banned the country’s few guide dogs and disqualified the disabled from entrance to many schools, any effort to open the city’s transit infrastructure to the disabled is a welcome change.

Read the full story here: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/09/barrier-free-be.html

THINKING GENDER:Graduate Student Research Conference

**NOTE: Disability is among the topics that the organizers hope to highlight**

THE UCLA CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN announces
CALL FOR PAPERS

2009 THINKING GENDER

THE NINETEENTH ANNUAL GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE, Friday, February 6, 2009
UCLA FACULTY CENTER

Thinking Gender is a public conference highlighting graduate student research on women, sexuality and gender across all disciplines and historical periods. We invite submissions  for individual papers or preconstituted panels. This year, we especially welcome feminist research on:

- women and media
- local feminist issues and concerns in Southern California
- women and the environment (e.g., ecofeminism, the built 
environment, urban planning, architecture)
- women and political activism (e.g., women in government, women and 
war/peace)
- embodiment (e.g., disability, genetics)
- women in sports

Medical Humanities: Health and Disease in Culture: CFP

Medical Humanities: Health and Disease in Culture
POPULAR CULTURE AND AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATIONS
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
New Orleans Marriott, New Orleans, Louisiana
April 8-April 11, 2009

The “Medical Humanities: Health and Disease in Culture” PCA/ACA area examines a wide variety of topics related to the experiences of human beings pursuing health and living with illness. Interdisciplinary proposals representing humanities and the arts (e.g., literature, history, film, visual arts) or social sciences (e.g., anthropology, cultural studies, sociology) perspectives through historical or contemporary contexts are welcome. This area emphasizes the pursuit of humane health care and the exploration of the social and cultural contexts in which health care is delivered for individuals or specific groups. Subject areas might include: