English

Rob Spirko

Rob Spirko

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ADDRESS
1203 McClung Tower

Rob Spirko

Senior Lecturer

Dr. Rob Spirko teaches Chancellor’s Honors writing courses, Introduction to Poetry, and American Literature. His focus is on disability studies; he regularly teaches English 254: Disability and Deafness in Literature. He has also directed independent studies (English 498) in disability-related topics. Extra-curricularly, he is active at the local, state and national levels in the Unitarian Universalist church.

Research

    • Disability Studies

    • Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Poetry

    • Speculative Fiction

Publications

    • “In Appalachia, Disability Stigma Has Dangerous Effects.” Rooted in Rights. Rootedinrights.org September, 2018.

    • “‘Better Me than You’: Children of a Lesser God, Deaf Education, and Paternalism.”  in Peering Behind the Curtain: Disability and the Extraordinary Body in Contemporary Theater.  eds. Thomas Fahy and Kimball King.  New York: Routledge, 2002.

Conference Presentations

    • Invited speaker. Public Affairs Conference, Missouri State University. Springfield: September 2018.

    • Panels: The fact of pluralism: How much unity, how much diversity?

    • “The Fragmented Public Sphere and the Necessity for Diversity”

    • The arts as the heart of utopia.

    • “From Plato to Parton.”

    • Building community through storytelling.

    • “What is a story and who gets to tell it? Disability and Appalachia.”

    • “Implementing Universal Design in a University Environment.” Universal Design for Learning Implementation and Research Network Summit. Orlando: April 2018.

    • “Dismantling Able-Bodied Systems.” Roundtable. Nexus Graduate Conference. Knoxville: March 2018.

    • “Oree-cular Visions: Disability in N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.”  International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts.  Orlando: March 2017.

    • Universal Design for Learning Implementation and Research Network Summit.  Orlando: March 2017.

    • “What We Talk About When We Talk About Accessibility: Information Session for FYC Instructors.” University of Tennessee Writing Program, February 2017.

    • “Universal Design for Learning.”  Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center Workshop.  April 2015.

    • “Eugenics vs. Eutopia: Disability and Identification in X-Men: Days of Future Past.” PCA/ACA Conference.  New Orleans: April 2015.

    • “The Element of Surprise: Storytelling in Class.” Invited talk. College of Veterinary Science Pedagogy Series.  November 2014.

    • “Course Design and Teaching About Disability: Engaging Our Students.”  Uncommon Teaching and Learning Series. Tennessee TLC Workshop.  October 2014.

    • “’You’re So Inspiring!’: The Affective Dynamics of Inspiration Porn.”  Disability Issues and Advocacy Conference.  Knoxville, TN: April 2014.