Meet Our Staff

I joined the Disability Cultural Center staff as Director in 2019. I identify as a white, cisgender woman who is deaf. As an adult, I’ve learned some sign language, but I grew up mainstreamed in hearing culture.

I received my PhD in English Literature from the University of Chicago, and my academic interests focus around representations of disability and everydayness, particularly the formal choices that build certain concepts of disability in relationship to race. One of my primary questions has been: what can visual representation say, convey, or be ambiguous about that textual representation can’t, and vice versa? These investigations have led me to focus on representation not just in prose novels but also in media like comics and reality tv. (Ask me about the course I taught on reality tv and “anomalous embodiment”!)

Before coming to UIC, my professional background was in writing program administration, where I specialized in academic writing and supporting graduate students–both as teachers of writing, and as writers working in highly specialized discourse communities. While my interests in supporting writers have sometimes felt separate from my interests in disability studies, they come together in two important ways. As an undergrad at UW-Madison, I worked as a peer writing tutor, and being assigned to an Intro to Disability Studies course is how I encountered disability studies for the first time. I thought it “might be interesting,” and it turned out to be a lightbulb moment that nudged me to explore my relationship to disability identity, begin processing my experiences and how they had been narrated to me, and grapple with my own internalized ableism. Also, it was at academic conferences for rhetoricians and writing instructors that I first experienced radical accessibility put into practice. It was hugely transformative to feel, for the first time, that I was invited to ask for what I needed, that I was anticipated and welcome. In these contexts, I learned to think about practices as shaping environments and sending messages.

As I carry these experiences with me, I’m grateful to find a professional home in a cultural center that’s organized around building cross-disability and cross-movement solidarity.

I joined the UIC Disability Cultural Center staff as the Associate Director in Summer 2023. One of my main responsibilities at the DCC is facilitating the Community Care Kit Project, including the Community Care Cohort Internship! I identify as a white, queer, nonbinary person with psychiatric disabilities and a chronic illness. I have been given numerous psychiatric labels over the years (some feel accurate, others not so much!). I also have a chronic illness called dysautonomia that I developed after multiple concussions. I am continuously re/un/learning about how to work with and ride the rollercoaster that is autonomic nervous system dysfunction.

I received my PhD from UIC in the Social Foundations of Education, and while I am interested in a lot of different topics, my main focus is on psychiatric disabilities/mental health, students, and education/schooling. I spend a lot of time thinking about systems of power, privilege/oppression, abolition, community care, and disability justice.

My professional life before the DCC included a variety of things from campus programming, to being the director of a Sexuality Summer Institute, to teaching several critical education courses, like Critical Disability Studies in Education and Gender & Sexuality in Education. I received my master’s degree in Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University, and that is when I was introduced to disability culture for the first time. I went to a Sins Invalid performance in Fall 2009, and it changed my life – I’ve been working to deepen my relationship to disability culture and disability justice ever since!

I first joined the Disability Cultural Center staff as a Graduate Assistant in Fall 2023 and am back as the Program Coordinator as of Summer 2025!  I am a queer & trans Korean American immigrant with neurodivergence and chronic pain.

I was radicalized during college through abolitionist grassroots organizing and meaningful relationships with peers and leaders who invested in my growth.  During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and immediate mutual aid organizing in 2020, I attended a virtual training on pod-mapping by Mia Mingus and the BATJC – it introduced me to the world of disability justice and facilitated my journey to un/relearn disability as a concept and reflect on my relationship to my own disabilities (many of which I did not recognize at the time).

I have worked with a range of organizations, nonprofits, and community groups to provide direct services and facilitate and build community networks.  After several years of being in macro work, I decided to shift my focus to investing in individual relationships to create accessible change for my communities.  In 2024, I completed my MSW at UIC and have since worked as a therapist and advocate for sick/mad/disabled QTBIPOC individuals across Illinois.

My current disability dreams include creating communities of abundance for sick/mad/disabled QTBIPOC individuals in the Midwest and developing hard skills that can contribute towards a commune!  My special interests are board/card/table games, puzzles, and knowing what events are happening around town; feel free to ask & stop by to chat!

Year & Major: I am majoring in Industrial Design

Passions and/or research interests: I am passionate about intersectionality and learning more about other’s identities and cultures that shape their lived experiences. I am interested in the lived experiences of disabled QTBIPOC. My special interests include history, medieval to renaissance, Chicano history, and toy design.

How I connected with the DCC: During my freshman year, I started to attend some online events the DCC hosted and contributed to the  Disabled Latino/a/xs zine. I also participated in the DCC Community Care Cohort.

Ask me about: Medieval history, The British royal family, music, food especially vegan food, the Sims, Monster High. I am happy to talk!

Year & Major: junior year, Applied psychology major. Disability and Human Development Minor.

Passions and/or research interests: One of my biggest passions is learning more about disability, mental health,and neurodivergence. I especially enjoy learning about how disability/neurodivergence and mental health connect, and am hoping to someday become a mental health professional who can offer a safe space for neurodivergent/LGBTQ+/disabled folks. Autism is one of my biggest special interests, along with Legend of Zelda.

How I connected with the DCC: I learned about it during freshman orientation and have enjoyed hanging out in the DCC lounge the past few years. Also, I would hear about the DCC through the DHD courses I take for my minor.

Ask me about: Autism, neurodiversity, The Legend of Zelda, Omori, video games in general, music, crafting, psychology, Renaissance Fairs and Shrek 2 .( I know this movie like the back of my hand. My absolute favorite.) Always feel free to talk to me about pretty much anything! I love to hear what other people have to say.

Year & Major: I’m a Junior majoring in Public Policy

Passions and/or research interests: My favorite games are Pokemon Video games, Emerald, HeartGold, and Pokemon Black and Black 2. Aside from these video games, I enjoy sports like soccer and being active; I often also love taking long walks in the park with my dog. I enjoy cooking for myself and others. Whenever I’m hungry and have free time I cook for myself and others; my favorite dish is Enfricoladas, with are Tortillas dipped in beans with a topping of lettuce, cheese, and sour cream every you have opportunity it’s a particular recommendation of mine. And I also enjoy sitcoms.

Regarding personal Passions, I am passionate about politics and social justice, Writing, and improving myself.

How I connected with the DCC: I connected to the DCC because of the community.  DCC provides the space and opportunity to work towards developing the current community in the current contemporary space of UIC.  I see this as essential and valuable and doesn’t fly under the radar; it’s truly an opportunity that know the value of and doesn’t go unnoticed the working and contributing of open space to the public.

I am the Graduate Assistant (GA) for the Disability Cultural Center. I am in my first year of my MSW program at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC, and love working with children, adolescents, and young adults. I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2022, double majoring in Psychology and Comparative Human Development, and would love to chat with folks who are interested or curious in those fields. During my undergraduate, I took a wonderful course in Modern Disability Histories and have been passionate about incorporating disability justice into my social justice thinking and practice since.

I am a first-generation immigrant, Muslim, Turkish-American woman, and grew up low-income. I have a range of experiences with physical and mental disability both personally and in my family, and look forward to helping people explore their own relationships to disability. Before coming to UIC, I worked with English Language Learners, medically complex children and adolescents, and in academic research. Please feel free to chat with me about any of these topics or your own experiences.

Outside of the DCC, I love my beautiful darling cat Anya, spending time outside with my husband, cooking, playing board games, and exploring museums. I love hearing people’s recommendations for restaurants, cafes, board games, and new spots to explore in the city, so stop by the DCC and I would love to chat!