I welcome the opportunity to increase my knowledge of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality and use it as a lens to gain a deeper understanding of how disability intersects with other identity factors.
Crenshaw states:
‘There are many, many different kinds of intersectional exclusions. Not just people of colour, but people with disabilities. Immigrants. LGBTQ people. Indigenous people. Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power’.
As a lecturer in communication design and artist practitioner I instinctively gravitate towards visual (drawing) methods to aid understanding of theories, explore thoughts and develop concepts. This is an approach I embed in my teaching on BA (Hons) Graphic Media Design at LCC, and if I was introducing students to intersectionality I would typically set an introductory task e.g. draw your intersectionality. As an example, and in response to Crenshaw’s theory I share the drawn infographic image of my intersectionality as below (Fig.1):
Fig.1 Exploring intersectionality: me (Kelly Harrison, 29 April 2025)
Paralympian basketball team player Ade Adepitan states:
‘What makes people disabled is not their disability, it’s society, society is what holds us back.’
Ade a disabled Nigerian-born man of colour, was selected for the Paralympic wheelchair basketball team in 2000. His sporting career led to further opportunities as the first disabled TV travel presenter and he remains a dedicated disability advocate. He cites how societal failure in the provision of fair and equal opportunities for all, and how systematic racial discrimination and oppression ‘holds us back’. He states that although overt racial discrimination has reduced since the 1980’s, disability still intersects with other identity factors such as race, skin colour, age and appearance – negatively impacting on fair and equal opportunities including travel, accommodation and employment.
Sound artist Christine Sun Kim states:
‘I want deaf lives to be in your mind and be part of what we consider acceptable’.
As a partially deaf female myself, Christine’s story as a deaf female sound artist resonates with me deeply. Her disability, her deafness, is a primary source of reference and intersects consistently with her artwork and her ‘deaf identity’. She cites examples whereby the intersection of her disability intersects negatively with her daily life including education, work, entertainment and family. Her multidisciplinary artwork makes use of drawings, infographics, paintings, videos, installations and performances to explore themes around deaf culture, sound, silence, ASL, musical and language visual interpretation. By way of evidencing how these intersections impact on Christine’s daily lived experience as she navigates the hearing and non-hearing worlds and the the art world as a deaf person – I share two examples of her artwork as below (Fig.2 and Fig.3):
Fig.2 Shit Hearing People Say To Me, charcoal and oil pastel (Christine Sun Kim, 2019)
Fig.3 Degrees of my deaf rage in the art world, charcoal and pastel (Christine Sun Kim, 2018)
To conclude and within the context of my own teaching experience, I note that UAL data (UAL EDI Annual Report and Active Dashboards) evidences that disabled students are achieving higher attainment levels than non-disabled students, however retention levels amongst disabled students are lower than non-disabled students. There is also a notably higher level of Home students with declared disabilities than EU and International students – it would be interesting and useful to learn why these differences exist. With this knowledge in mind, I therefore fully realise the importance of remaining considerate and aware of both visible and hidden disabilities at UAL, and to fully implement inclusive, accessible, supportive, and kind approaches at all times – within my pedagogic practice now and in the future.
Reference
Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc.
Kimberlé Crenshaw On Intersectionality: The Big Idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BnAW4NyOak
Intersectionality 101: What is it and why is it important? https://www.womankind.org.uk/intersectionality-101-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/
Diversity and Inclusion Speaker’s Agency https://diversity-inclusion-speakers.com/news/top-10-lists/intersectionality-what-it-is-who-to-book/
Adepitan, A. and Webborn, N. (2020). Paralympics GB Legends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnRjdol_j0c
Sun, C. (2024). Friends and Strangers: https://youtu.be/2NpRaEDlLsI
Sun C. (2015) The Enchanting Music of Sign Language, TED Fellows Retreat https://www.ted.com/talks/christine_sun_kim_the_enchanting_music_of_sign_language?language=en
Sun C. How I Became An Artist https://www.artbasel.com/stories/how-i-became-an-artist–christine-sun-kim?lang=en
The Social Model of Disability at UAL
UAL, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report, 2022/24 https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/432141/SPCB23435-EDI-report-2022-23.pdf
UAL, Attainment by Disability, Active Dashboard, 2020-2024 https://tinyurl.com/c7csupuv
UAL, Retention by Disability, Active Dashboard, 2021-2024 https://tinyurl.com/4vkm8k6r
Education – Disability Rights https://www.gov.uk/rights-disabled-person/education-rights
I’m more of a visual learner than a text-only reader, so I really appreciated your use of graphs and diagrams, they helped clarify the topic and your direction.
I found Figures 1 and 2 particularly helpful. They seem very suitable form the basis of an introductory task while still aligning well with the focus of your course in Communication Design. I think this approach supports the broader goal of the discipline to convey information and messages with clarity and impact.
I would be interested to hear more in the future if you plan to implement this into the curriculum, such as which year group or unit it might fit into. Would it be a short introductory exercise or part of a longer-term project tied to unit learning outcomes?
In my own teaching on BA Immersive Media, I’ve integrated accessibility (which ties with social justice and disability) as a thematic focus. For example, we explore topics like motor control and visual impairment, which are especially relevant to designing VR experiences. However, I’m still exploring the best way to introduce the concept of Racial Justice (Intersectionality). I’m mindful that integrating these topics too rigidly into units may not be effective, as students often lean towards entertainment-driven themes like sci-fi. I’m still exploring ways that feel relevant and engaging, perhaps through standalone workshops or more flexible formats that allow space for reflection.
Your analysis of Ade Adepitan and Christine Sun Kim was insightful, it clearly highlighted how disability and intersectionality are often limited by society itself. I also appreciated the way you linked these examples to the data from the UAL Dashboard, drawing attention to the disparities in attainment and retention between disabled and non-disabled students.
If I recall correctly from our last blog meeting, the Dashboard data only covers Home students when reporting on disability and ethnicity, but not international students. It would certainly be helpful if UAL could provide more inclusive data, though I understand that’s a broader institutional challenge. In the meantime, I believe raising awareness and fostering open discussion around these issues with students is a valuable and achievable step forward.
Thank you for taking the time to read my disability blog post and for your comments, very much appreciated.
It’s great to hear you are also a visual learner (rather than text only), it really is my go-to shorthand method for exploring and explaining new and complex ideas, both to myself and in my teaching.
I welcome the fact that graphs, diagrams and drawings are an accepted and valid component within our studies on the PgCert programme, especially as you say, ‘This approach supports the broader goal of the discipline (of) Communication Design’.
While visual learning methods are a key component in my teaching practice, I will reflect on your query as to how I might further implement themes around disability and intersectionality into the curriculum in the future.
This year we introduced a new Responsible Design Unit into Y1 GMD and my focus has been Design Ethos. We used a range of in-studio delivery methods including: primary/secondary research, case studies, sample design analysis, peer-to-peer feedback, and presentations and discussions with external speakers and practitioners.
We will be reflecting on the new unit as we approach the end of the year, and already one area for future consideration is – have we been successful in introducing these important key themes to Y1 students in a way that is (as you write) ‘relevant and engaging’?
There is certainly rich potential for further project theme development around disability, intersectionality, identity, accessibility, target audiences, methods of communication, and building positive communities of practice now and into the future.
It’s interesting and inspiring to hear how you have integrated accessibility as a thematic focus in your own teaching. In the light of the above, it would be great to hear which methods you find most successful going forwards, as you introduce racial justice/intersectionality into your curriculum.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Hello Kelly this was an interesting read.
I like how much I learnt about you by your intersectionality exercise. I think it is a great idea to introduce yourself to your students and peers with such honesty. I am working on something similar for my intervention so maybe we can swap notes later on?
I would say to assume that we have seen the examples so in order to have more space to learn about you in relation to the examples I would avoid retelling what the example is and spend more time about how you relate to it.
Really exciting read and I am excited to see how your intersectionality workshops develop.
Fred
Hello Fred,
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post and for your thoughtful and constructive observations and comments.
In my teaching and learning practice I always aim to foster honest, genuine and supportive interactions between myself, students and peers and I welcome your recognising and relating to this.
I’m excited to hear that you are working on something similar for your intervention and yes, I’d be very happy to swap notes at a later stage.
Best, Kelly