ABOUT THE INSTITUTE ON DISABILITIES

Executive Director David T. Mitchell, PhD

As Executive Director, Dr. Mitchell oversees all aspects of the Institute on Disabilities. He represents the Institute on Disabilities within the University, The Commonwealth, and throughout the UCEDD network.

Throughout his 25 years in higher education as a faculty member, instructor, researcher, and administrator, Dr. Mitchell has worked to achieve social justice in the classroom and within the broader community. Teaching courses in disability history, culture, art, policy, economics, politics, and globalization energizes his work on and off campus. His research efforts as one of the founding scholars of disability studies in the Humanities has led to the publication of three co-authored books on disability representation and the historical treatment of people with disabilities; a five volume encyclopedia on which he served as senior editor; a volume of original primary source materials on the history of disability; and more than three dozen refereed journal articles on a variety of topics in Disability Studies. Likewise, Dr. Mitchell's creative work in independent documentary filmmaking resulted in the founding of one of the first independent disability production companies and four award-winning films on disability culture, disabled people in the Holocaust, disability portraiture, and disability in the arts. As part of his research dissemination efforts, Dr. Mitchell has lectured in more than a dozen countries and at universities and public venues across the United States.

In 2000 he was appointed as the first full time director of the Interdisciplinary PhD in Disability Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The program is the only PhD program in Disability Studies in the country and one of only two programs in the world. His work in the community includes the development and implementation of state legislation and policy-making, as well as serving on Boards for the Modern Language Association, Access Living, Victory Gardens, VS Arts, Bodies of Work: The Chicago Festival of Disability Arts and Culture, and others. David has also played an active role in disability community actions against inaccessible transportation, lack of access to healthcare, the under-representation of people with disabilities in city and state governments, the need for affordable, accessible housing, and the critique of pro-euthanasia policy formation.

As a leader in academic organizations promoting the development of Disability Studies, Mitchell has chaired panels, organized conferences, developed lecture series, curated public museum exhibitions, and directed film series all devoted to the greater understanding of people with disabilities. His primary interest has been in the articulation of the experience of disability as a largely untapped creative, cultural reservoir of knowledge. He has served on professional development committees, disability services and program review committees, and sits on the Editorial Board for numerous journals including: "Disability & Society, Disability Studies Quarterly," "The Journal of Disability Studies and Social Policy, Disability & Education," "Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies," and "The Journal of Literary Disability." Additionally, he cofounded and continues to serve as series editor for ""Corporealities: Discourses of Disability," the first book series devoted to the publication of research in Disability Studies. "Corporealities" is hosted by the University of Michigan Press and now has 15 titles in the series. An educational background in English and American Studies has shaped David Mitchell's comprehension of disability experience as a wellspring of creative social negotiation, while his community advocacy and policy work has shaped his approach to the necessity of academic and institutional compliance in the pre-professional training of people with disabilities.

Mitchell has done much of his work with his wife, Sharon Snyder, a faculty member at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He has two children, Cameron, 16 and Emma, 12.