Lisa Coleman - New York University
Karen Jackson-Weaver - New York University
Anyone can be disabled at any time—being disability inclusive means preparing to include and welcome everyone, always. Unique among institutions of higher education, NYU is committed to establishing institutional Disability Inclusive Culture.
Disability Inclusive Culture at NYU extends beyond legal compliance to university-wide equity and belonging. Disability Inclusive Culture initiatives at NYU are informed by both cultural understandings and evidence-based best practices. Initially, Disability Inclusive Culture work is focused on training and resources that prepare faculty to create disability inclusive classrooms.
The global operations of NYU highlight that Disability Inclusive Culture is inherently intersectional. Experiences of and perspectives on disability vary widely across identities, demographics, cultures, geographic places, physical locations, and moments in history. Disability Inclusive Culture at NYU is responsive to how the experiences and understandings of disability vary across location, time, and context.
Disability Inclusive Culture staff provide practical, actionable disability inclusion guidance for all of NYU's faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Consultation on how to integrate disability inclusion is also available to faculty, staff, and departments.
Across NYU’s global network, we seek to use an inherently integrative, intersectional, and collaborative approach to cultivate an institutionally embedded disability inclusive culture. Anyone can be disabled at any time, so to be disability inclusive means we are prepared to welcome everyone, always. In the Being@NYU study, the NYU community identified disability inclusive culture as one of the University’s priorities, especially in classroom settings. Disability inclusive culture initiatives are informed by both cultural understandings and evidence-based best practices.
As a hub within the Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation (OGI) at NYU, Disability Inclusive Culture focuses on providing faculty with resources and tools for creating inclusive classrooms where all students can thrive throughout their learning journey. In addition, we work to support, develop, and implement best practices in collaboration with partners across the university’s global network.