Two Events on October 15th with Author and Public Speaker Jonathan Mooney
10/8/2007

“Short Bus Stories: A Journey Beyond Normal”
October 15, 2007
4 pm, Gifford Auditorium
H.B. Crouse Hall
Main Campus, Syracuse University

Jonathan Mooney traveled around America in an old short school bus that he converted into an RV to explore disability culture in a journey that led him straight to the myth of normalcy. Like many people with disabilities, Jonathon had spent his life chasing that myth. But on the Short Bus, he learned that people with disabilities make up a nationwide movement that actively resists the constraints of normalcy. 

In this presentation, he brings to life some of the individuals with disabilities that he encountered, and shows how public institutions enforce normalcy. Drawing on his own experiences, he illustrates that "normal" is a state that no one visits: everyone must embrace their radical difference.

Lecture: “Freaks, Spazzes, and Gimps: Disability Rights, Pride, Community, and Culture” 
Presented as part of the Fall 2007 Disability Film Series "Freaks, Geeks and 'Othered' Physiques"
October 15, 2007
7 pm Watson Theater 
Waverly Ave just up the hill from Bird Library Syracuse University

Film Shorts:
- "Inclusive Post-Secondary Education: Living the Dream"
- Elementary Ed (Ed Smith School documentary) 

Central to the disability rights movements is the idea that disability is not a medical issue, but first and foremost a civil rights issue. And moreover, the powerful idea that people with disabilities are a minority group, with different experiences, who are united by a shared history of marginalization and discrimination. In this presentation Jonathan outlines the paradigm of minority rights and explores its consequences for parents and advocates of people with disabilities. Drawing upon his own personal experiences with rejecting a disability identity and trying to "pass" as normal, and disability groups, such as Deaf Pride who demand to be valued as they are, Jonathan explores the legality, history, and theory of conceptualizing disability as a civil rights issue.

These lectures are presented by the Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee, a student organization committed to creating and supporting a positive climate toward disability that values individual difference in all University settings. This program was funded in part by the Kaleidoscope Project, a diversity initiative sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs to broaden understanding of diversity and promote healthy dialogue about related issues at Syracuse University. Thanks to additional
Sponsors: the Team Against Bias, the School of Education, the Department of Teaching & Leadership.

Information and Accessibility 

Both facilities are accessible. CART will be provided for the lecture and discussion and the films are captioned. For parking information go to www.safetyrules.net/parking.html or contact Ted Finlayson-Schueler at 446-6333 or email tfinlays@syr.edu.

For more information on Jonathan Mooney, visit his website at: http://www.jonathanmooney.com/

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