A place to start: Understanding disability identity and community at Mount Allison University

Abstract

This thesis is a phenomenological exploration of disability, identity and community at Mount Allison University. I conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with students who self-identified as having disabilities. Participants' accounts reflected embodied perspectives of disabled identity which recognize both disability and identity as contextual and multifaceted. Findings demonstrated how disabled students' identities were informed by the neoliberal expectations and limitations placed on them by the university, and also revealed the ways in which participants were working to decenter and resist these norms. Though institutional policies and practices often separated disabled issues from the rest of the university environment, participants found community by resisting the expectation of remaining quiet about disability. A sense of community with other disabled students was discussed as a factor that positively influenced participant identities. By building community, participants resisted the isolation imposed upon them by the institution. The findings of this study also revealed ways in which participants were prioritizing interdependent communities in a university environment that privileges individualism, and critiquing neoliberal notions of self-care that neglect community.