CFP: Autism and the Arts & Humanities Symposium

Hosted by Division of Literature and Languages, Religion Programme, The University of Stirling.

Event to be held at: The University of Stirling Campus.

Symposium Outline:

Organisers of this interdisciplinary symposium are inviting speakers from organisations such as National Autistic Society, Scottish Women’s Autism Network, and those who work to support people with autism, students/researchers who are neurodiverse, and academics researching within the field of neurodiversity/autism within the arts and humanities.

The aim of the event is therefore threefold: firstly, to engage with organisations supporting people with autism to learn about transitions into HE and how to support autistic learners more equitably within Higher Education. There will be a particular focus on the use of abstract/metaphorical language within the study of A&H and what barriers as well as opportunities this may present.  How can universities, and the Arts and Humanities in particular, be more accessible?

Secondly, to foster a conversation with neurodiverse and autistic students and academics about experiences of studying and researching subjects within the Arts and Humanities; what barriers as well as benefits are encountered as a result of autistic perception, alongside the dominance of neurotypical approaches to information delivery/reception within HE institutions?

Thirdly, to engage with academics about research on (but not limited to) autism and language in relation to studying A&H (metaphor/abstract ideas/critical thinking and writing), with a particular interest in the following:

• ·       Representations of autism and neurodiversity in literature and the arts (with a particular interest in gender, sexuality, race, class).
• ·       Materiality and autism: prioritising a sensory experience of the world.
• ·       Theology and religion: challenging language of God and abstractions of spirituality – experiencing the other worldly in this world.
• ·       Intersections of autism, with gender, sexuality, race and class: eg. challenging dominant narratives and interrogating the data gap which has impacted the diagnoses of women and girls.
• ·       Problems with discourses of ‘inclusion’.
• ·       Autism and education
• ·       History of the construction of ‘autism’ within (post-Enlightenment) Western medical frameworks: challenging language of normativity and ‘order/disorder’.

The overall aim of this event is that it will bring together researchers and practitioners (neurodivergent and neurotypical) across different faculties/services within the University of Stirling, Scottish/UK wide HE sector, as well as initiating meaningful collaborations with external organisations. The event will aim to be a springboard to a more ambitious research project which will recognise and celebrate the range of skills that people with autism and autistic brain profiles bring to the study of  the arts and humanities and to creative practice (such as enhanced skills of interrogation, accuracy, sensory appreciation; the skill to question poor use of language/metaphor; attention to detail; motivation for detail).

Confirmed Speakers:

Dr Ruth Dunster (author of Autism of Gxd: An Atheological Love Story. Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2022)

Dr Alison Jasper and Dr John I’Anson (authors of Schooling Indifference: Reimagining RE in multi-cultural and gendered spaces.  London: Routledge, 2017 and A Poetics of Education: edupoetics and pathways towards new educational collectivities, Routledge, forthcoming)

Dr Fiona Darroch (Lecturer in Religion, University of Stirling)

Deadline for Abstracts:

Please send notes of interests in the event or abstracts of no more than 300 words, for consideration to deliver a 20-minute paper, to fiona.darroch@stir.ac.uk by Wednesday 15th May, 2024.

Please note that we will vary the delivery of papers and ways to participate to meet individual needs (such as silent reading of a paper/questions in advance/technology-facilitated dialogue).