PhD candidate in History, Sandy Barron, had his research on Disability History in Canada featured in the Current Grad Students news feature on the Carleton Graduate Studies website. Below is a short excerpt of the article by Mitch Jackson entitled “Grad Research: Disability History in Canada“. The full article is available online.
PhD Student Sandy Barron is focusing on disability history in Canada – an emerging field that is exploring not only the experiences of people with disabilities, but also how disability challenged and changed social and political life for everyone.
“People with disabilities and Deaf people were at the forefront of developing educational and social institutions that we now take for granted, both as recipients and political activists,” said Barron.
Barron is looking at how the politics around education of youth with sensory disabilities (such as deafness and blindness) were more local than national, and very influenced by American models.
“I am also interested in the emergence of Deaf communities in Brandon and Winnipeg – specifically in histories of labour in the printing industry, and how Deaf people advocated for their own political inclusion,” said Barron.