Classified bodies : disability, identity, and the technological classroom

Graduation date: 2014This thesis pursues a flexible understanding and definition of\ud dis/ability as a broadly and liberally applied mark of stigma. It asks\ud questions that develop a deeper understanding of how disability\ud influences mētis, a knowledge or cunning use of the body. Through this\ud framework of mētis, this thesis explores technologies as they promote or\ud hinder access into moments where knowledge (fleeting or kairotic by\ud nature) is developed in the academic learning process. How do bodies\ud shape who we are, where we learn, and how we use technology in these\ud spaces?\ud \ud I begin with an exploration of how we use historical depictions of\ud the disabled mind-body to tell ourselves stories about how bodies can and\ud cannot function within a community, and how these stories perpetuate\ud into treatments of bodily difference today. Supported by the analysis and\ud scholarship of these portrayals of the disabled body, I then explore how\ud technology is continuing to change bodies and their access to moments of\ud learning in the classroom. Looking especially to a case study of one such\ud technology that supports accessibility for people with hearing difficulties,\ud TypeWell, I argue that the union of human and machine through\ud accommodative technologies is a new area for exploring how disability\ud and technology are changing writing and writing instruction today