Akemi Nishida
Associate Professor, Disability and Human Development
Associate Professor in Gender and Women's Studies, Disability and Human Development
Focus Areas
Office Phone
Office
, 716
Mail Code
626
Office Hours
By appointment
About
Akemi Nishida uses research, education, and activism to investigate the ways in which ableism and sanism are exercised in relation to racism, sexism, and other forms of social injustices. She also uses such methods to work towards cross-community solidarity for the celebration of community power. In her research and teaching, Nishida brings together disability studies, critical race theories, transnational feminist studies, and among others. She is the author of "Just Care: Messy Entanglements of Disability, Dependency, and Desire" (Temple University Press), in which she merges affect theory with critical theories to examine state care programs as well as grassroots interdependent care collectives and bed activism. Nishida’s research has been funded by the American Association of University Women, among others. Her work has been published in Subjectivity, Multicultural Perspectives, Disability Studies Quarterly, and Occupy! n+1. Her commitment for disability and other social justices continues outside of academia as she works locally and nationally to promote disability activism. She is on the joint appointment with Gender and Women's Studies.
Selected Grants
American Association of University Women, International Fellowship,
UIC Institute for Race and Public Policy, Faculty Fellowship,
Selected Publications
“Just Care: Messy Entanglements of Disability, Dependency, and Desire”, (Book)
“Critical disability praxis”, Manifestos for the Future of Critical Disability Studies
Service to the Community
Member of Advance Your Leadership Power, Chicago, IL Consulting for Disability Project, Transgender Law Center
Notable Honors
2020 - Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame, National Disability Mentoring Coalition and Partners for Youth with Disabilities
2020 - Humanities Without Walls Seed Grant, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Education
Ph.D. in Critical Social-Personality Psychology, Graduate Center, City University of New York