Congratulations to Ann Heffernan whose project was awarded funding from The Office of the Provost’s Disability Scholarship Initiative!

The Office of the Provost’s Disability Scholarship Initiative is intended to support the pursuit of new scholarship aimed to better understand and address the concerns of faculty and staff on the Ann Arbor campus who have a disability. A broad definition of disability is foundational to the initiative, which may include mental, physical, and cognitive differences. Made possible by gift funds, the initiative aligns with existing efforts to strengthen the institutional commitment to an inclusive and accessible campus for all members of the community. In addition, all funded proposals address the Vision 2034 pillars of health and well-being and life-changing education.

Ann Heffernan is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. Her research and teaching interests include contemporary political theory, disability studies, feminist theory, and American political development. Ann and Emmalon Davis', U-M Assistant Professor of Philosophy, project titled (Doing) Disability research from the (disabled) margins: Constructing community and conceptualizing support identifies—and aims to serve—a unique population of disabled faculty at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, namely, disabled faculty conducting disability-focused research. 

"Not all disabled faculty work on disability-focused research, and not all disability-focused research is conducted by disabled faculty. We aim to investigate the concerns of faculty who occupy the intersections of both—faculty who navigate barriers associated with doing work on marginalized and under-supported disability topics while also being disabled. We are  particularly interested in exploring the needs of such faculty at the junior level, especially those working in departments and disciplines where disability-focused research is not (yet) an  established area of study."