EWU McNair Scholar Kelly Parke, presented her research, Atmospheres of Ableism: A Phenomenological Exploration of Everyday Encounters, at the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity this February. This culmination of her 2023 Summer Research Internship, under the mentorship of Dr. Ryan Parrey worked to explore Tuasig’s concept of ableism as “the atmosphere we breathe,” through an online qualitative survey distributed to people with physical disabilities in the Inland Northwest. She also presented this research at this year’s EWU Research and Creative Works Symposium.
Kelly is a first-generation undergraduate student at Eastern Washington University graduating in the Spring of 2024 with a degree in Anthropology, and minors in Disability Studies and Sexuality & Queer Studies. Kelly’s future research interests are related to sexual expression and reproductive rights for people with disabilities, particularly at the intersection of disability with other marginalized identities. Kelly has been accepted to the University of Cincinnati M.A. Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Columbia University’s Master of Human Rights Studies, and the University of Illinois, Chicago’s PhD program in Disability Studies with full funding! Kelly will start UIC’s PhD program in the Fall of 2024.
