Japanese feminine cis-woman smiling. Bottom half of her long hair is green and the rest is black. She is wearing a red dress.

Akemi Nishida

Associate Professor, Disability and Human Development

Associate Professor in Gender and Women's Studies, Disability and Human Development

Office Phone

312-996-1792

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,

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