Over three hundred researchers, practitioners, and artists gathered in Durham and online for a three-day conference on Critical Neurodiversity Studies: Directions / Intersections / Contradictions.
Hosted by our Institute for Medical Humanities with generous funding from Wellcome, the conference was the first large-scale international event to explore a critical turn in neurodiversity theory and research across the globe.
Between June 24 and 26, more than 80 speakers showcased work that departs from narrow, medicalised understandings of neurodiversity and instead draws on insights from the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
Discussions covered a range of topics, including the neurotypicality of the law, knowledge arising from lived experience of mental distress, intersectional privilege, neuroqueer history, and indigenous approaches to neurodivergence, gender diversity, and disability.
The aim of the conference was to create a safe and generative space for a new generation of neurodivergent scholar-activists, building a movement committed to neurodivergent liberation and meaningful real-world change.
Accessibility and inclusivity were at the forefront of conference planning, supported by a dedicated team of academics, operations leads and EDI specialists.
The event was fully hybrid and free to attend, and featured performance and creative practice alongside more traditional academic papers, panels and roundtables.
Dedicated quiet spaces, an immersive sensory room, and visual systems for communication initiation helped to create a conference where neurodivergent attendees could meaningfully engage – on their own terms.
A pioneering fellowship scheme enabled the in-person participation of 15 scholars from the Global South and researchers facing barriers to engagement with the UK academic system.
The scheme is now supporting the development of the fellowship holders’ research through networking, mentoring and publication opportunities.
Durham is fast becoming a world-leader in the emerging field of critical neurodiversity studies.
The conference was conceptualised by Dr Louise Creechan, from our Department of English Studies, and Dr Robert Chapman, from our Department of Philosophy.
It was supported by our Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities and co-badged with the Neurodivergent Humanities Network.
/prod01/prodbucket01/media/durham-university/research-/research-institutes/institute-for-medical-humanities/art-by-lonfeldt-711404-unsplash-1.jpg)