Probing Equity’s Complexities: An Interdisciplinary Re-framing of the Racialization of Disability

Racial disparities in special education have been debated for over 50 years. In this lecture, Alfredo J. Artiles, dean of the Graduate College and the Ryan C. Harris Professor of Special Education at the Mary Lou Fullton Teachers College at Arizona State University, will sketch an overview of this problem and identify limitations in the theoretical framing and methodological approaches to study this predicament. He also will discuss the assumptions about equity that are used in this research. The core argument of the presentation is the need to re-frame this problem using an interdisciplinary prism and discuss the implications for future research. At the center of this re-framing is the need for a historical epistemology and the pursuit of alternative representations of the complex dimensions of the racialization of disability.