Lily Diego-Johnson

I am a first-generation college student and the first in my family to have an opportunity to pursue a PhD. I was born in Mexico and was raised in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. As a disabled artist, I center my work around my commitment to social justice and the ways I navigate through systems of both privilege and oppression. My communities give me strength and endless support.

Why did you choose DHD at UIC?
It has been a journey. I obtained my BA and MSW from UIC. Over the long years, Dr. Carrie Sandahl planted the DHD seed. At one point, I thought I would be in rehab counseling, but after watching my fierce disability community recoil in confusion (just kidding… sort of), I began to give the Disability Studies program more serious thought. Disability studies is interdisciplinary; the program offers the social, cultural, and political disability perspective I didn’t know I was seeking. I feel fortunate to have found a program that also centers various forms of accessibility in its pedogogical practices.

What do you want to do with a DHD degree?
Change perceptions of disability in mental health practices in many, many ways for consumers and practitioners

Research Interests
mental health access, intersectionality, social determinants of health, social justice, service provision, treatment approaches, Mad studies, cultural humility

Education
BA, English Creative Nonfiction Writing and General Psychology, UIC, 2014
MSW, Social Work/Mental Health, UIC, 2017