From insight to action - tackling ableism in higher education

Speakers

• 
  Nicole Brown
  Nicole is Associate Professor at University College London in the department of Culture, Communication, and Media of UCL Institute of Education. A leading voice in embodied research, she draws on creative, arts-based methods to challenge conventional approaches to researching ableism, disability, chronic illness, and neurodivergence in higher education. Her research highlights lived experience and advocates for new ways of listening, speaking, and representing experience that drive cultural, institutional, and structural change. Nicole’s publications include Photovoice Reimagined, Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education, and Ableism in Academia: Theorising Experiences of Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses in Higher Education. Her next book will be the creative anthology Exceptionally Able.
• 
  Gayle Brewer
  Gayle is a Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Liverpool. She holds doctorates in both disciplines and has worked in higher education for over 20 years. Gayle has published over 100 journal articles and in 2022 published a book entitled 'Disability in Higher Education: Investigating Identity, Stigma, and Disclosure Amongst Disabled Academics'. Her next book, entitled 'The Dark Side of Academia: Competition, Inequality, and Violence in the Ivory Tower' will be published in 2026. The book examines a range of issues including the academic role and environment, representation and inequality, and violence and aggression.