This is a past event.
Ableism and Technoableism
Ableism and Technoableism
Ashley Shew and Diana Niepce invites us to rethink the intersections between technology, disability, and social justice, addressing the ableism present in technological narratives. Rather than reflecting on technologies simply to ‘correct’ bodies, Shew proposes listening to the experiences of ‘real cyborgs’, those who live with and through these innovations. Starting with his book Against Technoableism, Shew has been challenging the perception that, in this context, technologies are developed under a normative perspective of the efficacy of the body and promotes visions of technological futures led by and for people with disabilities, valuing the knowledge of historically marginalised communities.
Shew is an Associate Professor of Science, Technology, & Society at Virginia Tech and the principal investigator for a higher education project supporting the creation of a regional Disability Community Technology Center (DisCoTec), providing guidance for the development of disability-focused technology futures and stimulating research in the humanities, education, arts, and justice.
02 OCT 2025
THU 19:00
Free
Duration 60 min.
In English, with Portuguese subtitles and interpretation in Portuguese Sign Language.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ashley Shew is an associate professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech. Her current research sits at the intersection of technology studies, biotech ethics, and disability studies. Shew’s recent book Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement (2023) and forthcoming open textbook, co-edited with Hanna Herdegen, Technology and Disability, both focus on the stories disabled people tell about technologies that people do not always expect.
Ashley’s past work has been in philosophy of technology with particular interest in technological knowledge, animal studies, and emerging technologies. She is a recent former co-editor-in-chief of Techné, the journal of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (2020-2024). She is sole author of Technological Knowledge and Animal Constructions (2017) and co-editor of three philosophy of technology volumes: Spaces for the Future (with Joe Pitt, 2017), Feedback Loops (with Andrew Garnar, 2020), and Reimagining Philosophy and Technology, Reinventing Ihde (with Glen Miller, 2020)
Shew believes in cross-disciplinary, cross-disability, and public-facing scholarship: she has written for IEEE Technology & Society, Nursing Clio, Nature, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed. She is a grateful participant with her local disability advocacy and activist community.
Co-financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, as part of the Europe Beyond Access II project
