Introducing our panellists

The Sydney chapter of AWAWS is hosting a panel discussion on disablism in Ancient World Studies on Tuesday 29 Jun 2021, 17:00 AEST (UTC + 10). We are delighted to be joined by five ancient world scholars living with a disability. Our incredible panel includes

Alexandra Morris

​Alexandra F. Morris is currently a PhD student in history and the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Law’s Postgraduate Student Representative at Teesside University. Her PhD research focuses on disability during the Hellenistic/Ptolemaic Period. Other research interests include making museums more accessible and inclusive for the disabled community, Ptolemaic Egypt, Alexander the Great, and ancient Egyptian and Greek art, medicine, politics, and religious practices. She has an MA in Museum Studies from New York University, and an MA in Near Eastern Languages & Civilisations (Egyptology) from the University of Pennsylvania. Her BA is in Archaeological Studies, Anthropology, and Art History with minors in Classics and history from SUNY Potsdam.  
 
More from Alexandra
https://therockstaranthropologist.com/the-archaeology-of-disability-an-interview-with-alexandra-morris/
https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/persons/alexandra-morris-morris

David Chapman

David Chapman is currently a PhD Candidate in Ancient History at Macquarie University, having previously completed both his Bachelor of Ancient History and Master of Research. In 2019 he was awarded The University Medal for Ancient History. His research focuses on formal and informal structures of power in New Kingdom Egypt (1550 - 1352 BCE). He is currently working on a study that examines officials associated with the Temples of Montu and the roles temple personnel play within the interpersonal and institutional apparatus of state. David has cerebral palsy and sits on the Department of History and Archaeology Working Group on Approaches to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility at Macquarie University.

Kyle Jordan

Kyle Lewis Jordan (He/Him) is currently a disabled postgraduate student at University College London’s Institute of Archaeology, studying the Archaeology and Heritage of Egypt and the Middle East. Born with Cerebral Palsy, his interests as an Egyptologist broadly encompass the themes of Religion, Magic and Identity, with a special focus on the representation and lived experience of disability. He is currently working on his thesis, which looks at the presence and role of disability and bodily difference in the formation of early court society in Egypt. He is also one of the Snowdon Trust’s Masters Scholars, recognised as a future disabled leader.

Isabel Ruffell

Isabel Ruffell is Professor of Greek Drama and Culture, and head of Classics, at the University of Glasgow, and has particular research interests in Greek comedy and tragedy, and in ancient mechanics. Publications include _Politics and Anti-Realism in Athenian Old Comedy: the Art of the Impossible_ (OUP, 2011) and _Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound_ 
(Bloomsbury, 2012). Her main current focus is a book, _Constructing Ancient Automata_, stemming from a Levrhulme-funded project on Hero of Alexandria (http://automata.arts.gla.ac.uk). As a visually-impaired classicist, she has a long-standing interest in accessibility in learning and teaching within the subject.

Mason Shrader

Mason Shrader is a disabled advocate as well as a Classics and Anthropology master’s student at Texas Tech university. He specializes in the archaeology of disability and in his advocacy he works to make the field of archaeology more accessible. Mason’s current research interests include spatial analysis of medical sites, osteobiography, and the reception of mythic models of disability.