Beneath the SURFACE

Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri and Diane Wiener (Co-Creators)

This digital repository will provide scholars, practitioners, editors, and its own readership with the opportunity to engage in a broad array of reflective discussions about the representations of disability that exist “beneath the surface” and explicitly within mainstream cultures both nationally and internationally. Genres and subgenres that do not typically receive sustained attention in mainstream scholarly literature will be showcased here, including but not limited to:

  • science fiction (cyborgs, robots, aliens, alternative and parallel universes)
  • fantasy (magic, steampunk, superhumans)
  • horror (zombies, vampires, werewolves, monsters)
  • paranormal (ghosts, psychic phenomena)

In particular, the following media will be included as content, as they examine disability in sometimes overlapping genres:

  • films, videos, television shows (including reality TV)
  • advertising, newspapers, magazines)
  • graphic novels, manga, anime, comics, comic cons, comix
  • performance art, theater, jokes, comedy, dance
  • mythology, folklore
  • music (hip hop, rap, ska, metal, etc.)
  • visual arts, painting, photography
  • poetry, expressive arts, popular fiction
  • material culture, multimedia
  • websites, blogs, memes
  • games, gaming, and toys
All content will demonstrate commitments to an array of disability cultural and disability studies perspectives.

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