colloquia 25
Skunk Birkemeier
Bachelor of Arts in Feminist Cultural and Literary StudiesQueering Education:
Neuroqueer Poetics of Pedagogy and Resistance
Within this work, I investigate the ways in which ableism maintains its active role in academia and suggest policies and pedagogies which can be enacted to obliterate the presence of academic ableism. Additionally, I examine through critical analysis of various Neurodivergent poets the ways in which poetry functions as modes of self-empowerment, self-compassion, and resistance for Neuroqueer learners in the face of oppression and otherization. My research affirms that creating and engaging with poetry strengthens Neuroqueer social skills, including competency in self-advocacy, which, in turn, fosters feelings of self-empowerment, self-compassion, and a drive to resist oppression, marginalization, and otherization. By dismantling policies which actively stigmatize and oppress Neuroqueerness, replacing them with policies of a more humanizing approach, and teaching poetry as a means of fostering skills of self-advocacy, we will not only see a tremendous increase in Neuroqueer graduates from higher education, but we will additionally see a shift in the broader perception of Neuroqueerness; transforming visions revolving around “deficits” and “difficulties” into unique capabilities and bold, unyielding individuality. (to gather in conversation) · Senior Capstone Projects · June 2025
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