The Centre for Global Disability Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough
Undergraduate Awards for Disability Studies
We are pleased to announce our inaugural 2024-2025 Undergraduate Award winners: Sara Hashemi, Catherine Dumé and Gabrielle Pittinger! Read on for a description of their projects.
Sara Hashemi (she/her) is a 5th year Bachelor of Science student majoring in Criminology and Psychology with a minor in Bioethics. Her research uses disability poetics to understand and express experiences of mental health to disrupt the narratives around “recovery” and “treatment” that advance a medical model of disability as well as illness narratives. Her community work with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario centers disability justice and aims to hear, document, and amplify the experiences of racialized people living with a disability.
As a recipient of the CGDS Undergraduate Award for Disability Studies, I hope to further my creative writing and research in disability arts and disability poetics. Specifically, this award will allow me to spend more time working on a piece around hermit crab essays and their role in disrupting linear expectations of healing – Sara
Catherine Dumé is a Bachelor of Arts student with a degree in political science and a double minor in history and writing and rhetoric. In 2019, Catherine started a disability blog about inaccessible spaces in Toronto. She subsequently went on to become the Accessibility Correspondent for The Varsity, with one of her pieces “How Accessible is Robarts” presented to top architect firms in Toronto and even became part of the reading list for a Critical Disabilities Studies course at UofT’s New College. These experiences led to Catherine co-founding and running the University of Toronto, Accessibility Awareness Club (U-TAAC), providing inputs on campus renovations and spaces, hosting the first accessibility-focused campus tour for incoming students with disabilities, and organizing the first Ableism in Classrooms Conference that brought together students, staff, and faculty on the issue of academic accessibility at UofT.
It is an honour to be recognized for my contributions and to be one of the first recipients of this award. Recognizing the efforts of student advocates within the disability community is important. After five years of advocacy and working with such passionate students, I have learned that accessibility is a pressing political crisis that requires not only listening to students with disabilities but also empowering them with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to voice their concerns and impact positive change – Catherine
Catherine stands in front of a door smiling at the camera. She has shoulder-length black hair, and wears glasses and a mauve top.
Gabrielle Pittinger is a 4th year Bachelor of Arts student specializing in Women and Gender Studies. Her own lived experiences of pain and disability are reflected in her interdisciplinary approach to disability work. Gabrielle’s papers have been presented at three Women and Gender Studies seminars, the 2024 UofT Undergraduate Research Conference, and the Trans, Disability and Sapphic Knowledges (TDSK) Conferences. Her community work on campus as co-president of the Trans, Disability and Sapphic Knowledges (TDSK) Conference and Journal has received attention across Ontario and Canada for its inclusive model that seeks to make the event as accessible as possible while providing undergraduate students with an expansive platform to share their work.
I am honoured to be receiving the 2024 Centre for Global Disability Studies (CGDS) Undergraduate Award for Disability Studies Scholarship. Through the creation of the Trans, Disability, and Sapphic Knowledges Conference and Journal, the increasing number of courses focused on disability studies, and the growing intrigue by students, this field is expanding within the University of Toronto and I one day hope to see it as its own interdisciplinary department so that all students within the discipline can receive recognition for their dedication and scholarly contributions – Gabi
Image description: A white woman with long brown hair smiles at the camera. She is wearing glasses, a white top and a blue blazer.
The CGDS team is excited about the innovative work done by members of the undergraduate community that we have had the honour to support through the Undergraduate Awards in 2024-2025. We hope to continue funding vital projects and events in the future. Congratulations to our three award winners!
