Devva’s Room

Are you curious about disability history?
Wonder why people feel disability pride?
This series of events, honoring Devva Kasnitz, will take you on a wondrous journey through time. People of all ages are welcome- young activists to current and retired academics.

Devva’s Room occurs every second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. EST

Jointly created by Disability History and Culture Collective and I Love You – Lead On Community. MindFreedom International is a partner.

Devva’s Room is a tribute to her, an interactive exploration of Disability Studies.

This was a dream of Devva’s, to expand Disability Studies and to spirit Disability Studies out of the ivory tower and share the information with everyone. Devva’s wish was to make it accessible to all. Jargon and acronyms will be avoided. There will be several parts to each evening, learning about Disability Studies and the history of disability, with time for questions, networking, and fun.

ASL and Zoom captions are always available. Transcripts and recordings will be created shortly after each session. Additional accommodations are provided when requested.

Registration is required to prevent Zoom bombing and other antagonists from disrupting our time together. Register!

View the playlist of past events: Devva’s Room Playlist on YouTube.

Become a member of Devva’s Room reminder email list- Join list now!

Support Us!
This is a voluntary endeavor, in celebration of Devva’s life, but there are still overhead costs to be paid. Your support assures accessibility, up-to-date technology, and technology support.Donate

UPCOMING SESSIONS

May 13th

Performing Disability: From Freak Shows Through Reality Television…and Beyond” presented by Katya Vrtis

Historically, ‘freak shows’ allowed audiences to define themselves as ‘normal’ by objectifying people with visible disabilities. While classic circus sideshows have faded, this practice persists in modern media. Today’s programs frame these stories as ‘educational,’ but rely on the same power dynamics. From P.T. Barnum’s museum to current digital platforms, public displays continue to turn bodymind differences into mass entertainment. This presentation will take us back to the earliest “freak shows” to the everyday and AI generated monsters of today. There will be time for discussion and questions.

Dr. Katya Peckinpaugh Vrtis is a queer and disabled theatre scholar who explores how movies and pop culture spread harmful ideas about race, gender, and disability. They focus on how “monsters” and “freaks” in media are used to reinforce social prejudices. Beyond their research, Katya is an advocate for inclusive teaching practices and leads a major focus group for disability in theatre education.

June 10th – rescheduled from February 11, 2026

Grover Hogan and Rick Berry are going to discuss a medley of topics: Lois Curtis and the Olmstead Act; outsider art, including Lois’ and the long road to a National Disability Museum.
Register here!

PAST SESSIONS

April 8, 2026

Judge Rottenberg Center (JRC), the use of Corporal Punishment and the attempt to stop it

Nancy Weiss, longtime proponent againt JRC and former resident Aleyda Martines will discuss the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts – What goes on there and how can advocates participate to end inhumane practices? This residential facility for children and adults with disabilities uses horrendously painful electric shock to punish people for behaviors as innocuous as getting out of their seat or taking their eyes off their work. Their facility-designed and manufactured device, the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) delivers shocks many times stronger than a cattle prod or electric fence. Other methods like food deprivation and weeks- and months-long restraint are also employed as punishment. How can this be legal and still going on today? This informative discussion will include brainstorming advocacy ideas.

March 11, 2026

FIRST – Lucy Barnhouse
“Holiness and the Non-Normative Body: Examples from Late Medieval Europe”

From a historical perspective, this talk explores what saints and the narratives surrounding them reveal about the fluid boundaries of the bodymind in late medieval Europe. Figures include Christina the Astonishing, who experienced profound sensory sensitivities to sin; Margery Kempe, whose travels and visions inspired both reverence and suspicion; and Catherine of Siena, who boldly married Christ and admonished the pope.

Lucy Barnhouse is an Assistant Professor of History at Arkansas State University. A medieval specialist with a Fordham PhD, she explores late-medieval religion, disability, and women’s stories, while co-hosting the Footnoting History podcast.

SECOND – Wendy Harbour
“Disabled Journeys Through the Labyrinths”
Labyrinths have been powerful tools for the mind, body, and spirit for more than 4,000 years, appearing in cultures around the world. While modern efforts have sought to make labyrinths more physically accessible, this presentation asks: What does it mean to move beyond access and experience labyrinths as disabled and culturally Deaf people? Participants engaged directly with labyrinths during the session. If you have a vision-related disability and would like a tactile labyrinth mailed to you, please contact the presenter at JoyfulLabyrinth@gmail.com.

Wendy Harbour (she/her) is the director of the National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD) and a Senior Director at the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD). She is also a trained labyrinth facilitator and the owner of The Joyful Labyrinth

Watch the video- Season 2, Session 2

January 14, 2026

Who was Henry Viscardi, Jr.?
The Museum of Disability History at the Viscardi Center – A history of the Museum
Virtual Tour by Natalie Reyes, Director.
Watch the video – Season 2, Session 1

December 10, 2025

Jim Conroy: Pennhurst as a Landmark in Disability Rights History

Jim Conroy discussed the work he has done in documenting the lives of people with disabilities at the Pennhurst Institution. He focused on the historical relevance of this study in documenting Disability History.

James W. Conroy is a disability researcher who led the Pennhurst Longitudinal Study—a landmark multi-year research project that tracked outcomes for people leaving Pennhurst Institution for community living. He designed and directed the study at Temple University. Jim co-founded the Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance to preserve the site’s history and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. He co-authored “Pennhurst and the Struggle for Disability Rights”. His research was pivotal in proving deinstitutionalization works and helped transform disability services policy worldwide.

Watch the video – Season 1, Session 8

November 12, 2025

Elaine Gerber: Building Disability Culture on College Campuses. Elaine discussed her research with undergraduate students in New Jersey. They described the need for disability culture, in addition to accessibility to make a campus truly welcomimg.

Nirmala Erevelles: Discussed the implications of how disability is perceived and constructed alongside other categories of difference in current times. Afterwards the two had a very engaging discussion about how their topics overlapped.

Watch the video – Season 1, Session 7

October 8, 2025

Ashten Vassar-Cain: Discussed intersecting histories of Queer and Disabled communities. Answered compelling questions about conversion therapy and gender confirming care.
Watch the video – Season 1, Session 6

September 10, 2025

Anthony Tusler: “Disability Representation in Music”
Anthony’s vast contributions to the disability movement include over 20 years as director of disability services at Sonoma State University, documenting the 504 sit-ins through his photography, drawing attention to the higher rates of alcoholism and drug use in the disability community, and his website AboutDisability.com. This night, he will regale us with stories and clips that tell us about the lived experience of disability through music.

Kim Nielsen: “The Story of Disabled Women Suffragettes” Historian Kim Nielsen uncovers the often-overlooked role of disabled women in the fight for voting rights, revealing how intersectionality and activism formed the bedrock of both the suffrage and disability rights movements. Kim is the author of A Disability History of the United States, and several biographies about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan Macy.

Watch the video – Season 1, Session 5 – Tusler & Nielsen

Anthony’s Playlist

August 13, 2025

Jennifer Mankoff: “Disability Studies, Informed Perspectives on Disability” Jen shared how lived experience and academic insight work together to shape more inclusive, user-centered technology design—from assistive tools to AI bias—grounded in disability justice frameworks. She is a professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington.

Kim Nielsen was unable to join us, but did in September.

Watch the video – Season 1, Session 4 – Jen Mankoff

July 9, 2025

Rosemarie Garland Thomson, Georgina Kleege , and Brenda Brueggemann , pioneers in disability, discussed “No Longer the Only Person in the Room”.
Rosemarie is a bioethicist, author, educator, humanities scholar, and thought leader in disability justice and culture. She wrote “Freak Inheritance” documenting how the freak show and early eugenics era influenced how we came to perceive people with disabilities.
Georgina writes essays and memoirs in disability studies on blindness and teaches creative writing and disability studies at Cal Berkeley. She wrote “Sight Unseen”, where she compared her view of the world to the world’s view of blindness.
Brenda helped conceptualize the field of Disability Studies. She is a prolific writer, including nine memoirs in the “Deaf Lives” series she created.

Lucy Barnhouse introduced us to the lives of disabled people during the Middle Ages. She teaches classes in premodern, women’s, and medical history.

Watch the video – Season 1, session 3 – Thomson, Brueggemann, Kleege, and Barnhouse

June 10, 2025

Mark Friedman discussed “Disability Studies in a Time of Chaos: Why It Matters More Than Ever”. Mark explores how Disability Studies is more than a theory—it’s a movement. Learn how it challenges ableism, transforms institutions, and centers disabled voices.

Laurel Daen discussed the first American disability rights movement in the decades just after the American Revolution. During this period (approx 1775-1840), disabled people used the powerful language of liberty, equality, rights, and citizenship, which had gained power and purchase in the recent conflict, to demand greater access and autonomy.

Watch the video – Season 1, Session 2 – Friedman & Daen

May 14, 2025

Who Was Devva? and “Disposable Humanity” by the filmmakers; Cameron and David Mitchell

Who was Devva? is a recap of remembrances shared at her shiva by the people closest to her in the disability community. Disposable Humanity, the long awaited film produced by Cameron S. Mitchell and David T. Mitchell. (Trailer) They discuss how their documentary reveals how 300,00 disabled individuals were the initial victims of the Third Reich, paving the way for the atrocities that followed. Cameron began visiting the sites depicted as a child with his parents. Interviews and photos tell the story of the chilling legacy of the Nazi Aktion T4 program. “…A compelling film that brings this devastating history home.” –Jim Lebrecht, Oscar-nominated director of Crip Camp. This film is “The most important disability documentary that I’ve ever seen”–Andrew Gurza, Host of the Disability After Dark Podcast

Watch the video- Season 1, Session 1- Devva’s Shivva Excerpts & Disposable Humanity

Watch Disposable Humanity on YouTube.