Ottawa, ON – Today, on the International Day of the Girl Child, The Transforming Disability Knowledge, Research and Activism (TDKRA) project released its final report.

The project aimed to address the gap in knowledge about the situation of women and girls with disabilities in three disadvantaged communities in Vietnam and to build potential for their activism. The main objective of the project was to engage girls and women with disabilities in knowledge production as a form of activism for their inclusion. It also aimed to connect research and activism to build a more transformative approach to inclusion and social justice in the global South.

The TDKRA project was implemented in 5 phases. In each phase, emphasis was given to strengthening partnership with local DPOs and community, building local leadership, training, and enhancing women’s skills to be co-facilitators in various participatory visual methods. The outcomes of this project show potential for women and girls with disabilities to engage in local and transnational activisms. We have further pushed against traditional research methods and sought to implement decolonial methodologies by way of epistemological engagement with Global South representations. To this end we have centered the experience of women and girls in the Global South and worked with them��to produce their desired outcomes while also respecting their agency and supporting their feelings of empowerment throughout the research process.

Please kindly find the attached report: TDKRA Final Report

/tkaa/wp-content/uploads/TDKRA_Final-Report_October-2022.pdf

For Immediate Release
December 3rd, 2021

Ottawa, ON��– Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the “Organization” and the Decolonial Disability Studies Collective based at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University are excited to launch the ENGAGE project, a research and leadership-building project aimed at engaging girls and young women with disabilities in India, Vietnam and South Africa.

The “Learning with and from the global South: Opportunities for engaging girls and young women with disabilities across Southern spaces (ENGAGE) project” is a learning network of young women and girls with disabilities from across three countries in the Global South – Vietnam, India and South Africa. The project aims to support young women and girls living with disability to engage their leadership capacities and to support their activism for gendered disability equality, inclusion and respect.

“Many young girls and women with disability face the triple burden of poverty, inequality and unemployment. They do not have access to services and are most vulnerable, especially during this COVID pandemic and this period of rising gender-based violence in our communities. The research and possible interventions that will follow from this project will empower these women and girls with disabilities to advocate for the protection and promotion of their basic human rights.”, says Jace Nair, project partner and CEO of Blind South Africa.

By working in partnership with various Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) and universities in the Global South, the project will provide an opportunity for women and girls to share their ideas, experiences and priorities, while also sharing and learning about each of their contexts and about gendered disability justice initiatives that may promote socially inclusive change.

In the past, most research regarding people with disabilities was conducted by people without disabilities from Northern countries, and the results were usually interpreted using ideas and theories that came from the Global North. ENGAGE seeks to change that dynamic by building on the leadership qualities of disabled women and girls and their communities, and by focusing on the ideas, priorities and interpretations of the participants themselves. This ‘decolonial’ approach is important in order to transform these unequal power relations while enabling women and girls with disabilities and our partners from the Global South to re-imagine alternative spaces for knowledge production that come from their lived experiences and insight.

Project Director Dr. Thuy Nguyen explains, “By building these collective learning networks across unique cultural and historical backgrounds, we will be centering the voices and experiences of young women and girls with disabilities in ways that foster more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable communities in the Global South.”

In order to accomplish this, ENGAGE will develop culturally and community-engaged strategies to promote social change, such as the creation of photovoice and photo exhibitions, short films, theatre productions, and other similar public interfacing events. The project aims to support the work of the women and girls with disabilities to engage with their immediate community’s policy makers in order to promote a more inclusive and just society.

Dr. Phuong Huynh, a project partner from the Hue University of Sciences in Vietnam, states, “The ENGAGE project is important because it helps engender feelings of social engagement and active citizenship in women and girls with disabilities, and it will generate a more inclusive society in the South.”

Project partners include:

A Luoi Blind Association (Vietnam)

Blind South Africa (South Africa)

�Ӱ�ԭ�� University – Lead Institution (Canada)

Disabled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN) (Canada)

Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre (India)

UNICEF Vietnam (Vietnam)

University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)

University of Sciences, Hue University (Vietnam)

Western Sydney University (Australia)

For more information, please visit:

/ddsc/engage/

Media Contacts:

Dr. Thuy Nguyen, Project Director and Associate Professor, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, xuanthuynguyen@cunet.carleton.ca

Dana Corfield, Project Coordinator, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, danacorfield@cunet.carleton.ca

The Decolonial Disability Studies Collective is a collective of disabled and non-disabled scholars and activists from locations across the Global North and the Global South who are working together to put theory and practice from distinct Southern spaces into conversations with North American and Western Eurocentric disability studies and to build relationships between partners, including Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs), disabled academics, and activists from the Global South.

Research Assistant (RA) Position

The Learning with and from the Global South: Opportunities for Engaging Girls and Young Women with Disabilities Across Southern Spaces (ENGAGE) project invites applications for 1 Research Assistant at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University in Canada. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2021-24), ENGAGE aims to create decolonial spaces for young women and girls with disabilities in the global South to develop their knowledge of leadership and foster their inclusion.

Objectives: ENGAGE examines how girls and young women with disabilities in the global South can engage in transnational and local spaces and networks to become young leaders in their communities. Specifically, this project has five Research Objectives:

1) CREATE decolonial and participatory spaces for girls and young women with disabilities in the global South to develop knowledge on leadership and activism;

2) ENGAGE these women and girls in transnational and local platforms to shape their activist spaces and agendas based on their perspectives and experiences;

3) MOBILIZE these knowledge networks across advocacy organizations, universities, and communities in the global South to foster solidary and collective social action;

4) ESTABLISH sustainable relationships with global and local stakeholders and build potential for transnational activism that engages young women and girls with disabilities across the global North and South.

5) BUILD future partnerships with disabled girls and women and their Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs) to foster their activism for inclusion and social change across the global North and South.

We enthusiastically invite applications for one Research Assistant (RA) position at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University to assist the Project Director in all phases of the research process. The successful candidate will be a graduate student enrolled in a PhD or MA program at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University. As an RA, you will have the opportunity to work with an international team with an interdisciplinary focus. You will work directly with the Project Director, Professor Xuan Thuy Nguyen, and other Research Assistants. You will be provided with necessary training to successfully conduct your research and coordinating tasks.

Responsibilities: The RA will be responsible for assisting the Project Director in all phases of the research process. You will report your tasks directly to Dr. Nguyen. Major responsibilities include: developing training guides; fieldwork, data collection and management; and preparing articles for publications.

Specific responsibilities of the research assistant are described below:

1. Assisting the Project Director in developing training materials.
2. Assisting the Project Director in conducting literature review, data collection, data analysis, and data management.
3. Assisting the team in administrative and academic tasks, such as financial reporting.
4. Assisting the team in preparing manuscripts for publications, where applicable.
5. Assisting in coordinating activities with global and local partners, when required.

Qualifications:

1. Knowledge on critical disability studies, women’s and gender studies, and/or post-colonial and decolonial studies.
2. Good qualitative research skills. Basic knowledge of Nvivo software will be considered an asset.
3. Interest in and/or experience organizing research activities in coordination with an international team.
4. Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills.
5. Ability to work independently to fulfill assigned tasks on time.
6. Experience working with women and girls with disabilities in the global South is an asset.

Salary:

The total number of hours is approximately 10 hours/week, within 36 weeks (or 9 months/year), starting on Sept 15^th, 2021, and ends on August 31^st, 2022, with a possibility of renewal. Salary will be paid in accordance with your experience and degree. Probationary period is applied for the first two months.

This job will be primarily online. However, you are expected to meet with the Project Director and the research team on a regular basis via zoom or face-to-face. You may also be required to meet with the project’s partners for networking and planning purposes. The successful candidate can arrange his/her time appropriately.

Applications will be accepted until August 31^st, 2021. The screening process will start on September 1^st, 2021.

A detailed job description can also be found:

PDF version

Word version

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and their résumé in English to Dr. Xuan Thuy Nguyen, Associate Professor, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies & the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, at xuanthuy.nguyen@carleton.ca. Please state “APPLICATION – ENGAGE_RA POSITION” in the subject line of the email.

��

Research Assistant (RA) Position

The Engendering Disability Inclusive Development (EDID) Partnership Project invites applications for a Research Assistant (RA) position at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University in Canada. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2020-27), EDID brings together researchers, decision-makers and civil society organizations from Canada, Haiti, South Africa, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uganda, Australia, and Malta.

Objectives: EDID aims to implement rights and ensure justice for diverse girls and women with disabilities by:

• uncovering, creating, and sharing knowledge about their struggles for and progress toward disability-inclusive development, including asking how women and girls with disabilities are included and represented in discussions of rights and justice; and
• engendering or creating and putting into practice disability-inclusive development policies that are essential to removing barriers and cultivating the conditions for inclusion and participation.

We enthusiastically invite applications from Master’s students at a Vietnamese university to assist the Vietnam country team in all phases of the research process. As an RA, you will have the opportunity to work with an international team with an interdisciplinary focus. You will work directly with the country lead researcher, Professor Xuan Thuy Nguyen, and with other Research Assistants on EDID and related projects. You will be provided with essential training to successfully conduct your research and coordinating tasks. There may also be opportunities to engage in research, data analysis, and planning with team members from other projects to promote networking and partnership development.

Responsibilities: The RA will be responsible for assisting Dr. Nguyen and our Vietnam local partner, Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities (DP Hanoi), in all phases of the research process. Reporting directly to Dr. Nguyen, major responsibilities include: coordination with the project’s Vietnamese partners; conducting literature reviews, fieldwork, data collection, analysis, and management; and contributing to manuscripts for publications, where applicable.

Specific responsibilities of the research assistant will be:

1. Assisting the lead researcher of the Vietnam country team and our partner, DP Hanoi, in co-organizing research fieldwork.
2. Assisting the lead researcher in conducting data collection, data analysis, and data management.
3. Collaborating with other Research Assistants on EDID and related research projects to facilitate mutual learning and networking.
4. Assisting the team in administrative, financial, and academic tasks, such as reporting, where required.
5. Assisting the team in preparing manuscripts for publications, where applicable.
6. Networking and coordinating activities with EDID’s global and local partners.

Qualifications:

1. Knowledge on the socio-cultural and historical dimensions of disability, gender, law and/or social policy in Vietnam.
2. Good qualitative research skills. Experience using Nvivo software would be an asset.
3. Interest in and/or experience organizing research activities in coordination with an international team.
4. Ability to communicate well in written and spoken English; excellent organizational and problem-solving skills.
5. Ability to work independently to fulfill assigned tasks on time.
6. Experience working with women and girls with disabilities from a critical approach to disability rights is an asset.

Salary:

The total number of hours is approximately 10 hours/week, within 40 weeks (or 10 months), starting on August 1^st, 2021 and ends on August 31^st, 2023, with a possibility of renewal. Probationary period is applied for the first two months. Salary will be paid in accordance with your experience and degree. Students who identify as disabled, women, LGBTQ+ community, and ethnic minority students are strongly encouraged to apply.

This job will be primarily online. However, you will be expected to work on site with the research team during our fieldwork. You may also be required to meet with the project’s partners for networking and planning purposes. The successful candidate can arrange his/her time appropriately.

Applications will be accepted until��August 15, 2021.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and their résumé in English to Dr. Xuan Thuy Nguyen, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, at xuanthuy.nguyen@carleton.ca. An interview will be scheduled if the applicant is short-listed. Please state “APPLICATION – EDID VIETNAM_RA POSITION” in the subject line of the email.

A detailed job description can also be found:

PDF version

Word version

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The Engendering Disability Inclusive Development (EDID) Partnership Project invites applications for a PhD fellowship in Critical Disability Studies at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University in Canada. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2020-27), EDID brings together researchers, decision-makers and civil society organizations from Canada, Haiti, South Africa, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uganda, Australia and Malta.

Objectives: EDID aims to implement rights and ensure justice for diverse girls and women with disabilities by:

1) uncovering, creating, and sharing knowledge about their struggles for and progress toward disability-inclusive development, including asking how women and girls with disabilities are included and represented in discussions of rights and justice; and

2) engendering or creating and putting into practice disability-inclusive development policies that are essential to removing barriers and cultivating the conditions for inclusion and participation.

We enthusiastically invite applications for a PhD fellowship in Critical Disability Studies at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University. The objective of this fellowship is to provide an opportunity for training a doctoral student in Critical Disability Studies with a focus on working with women and girls with disabilities in Vietnam. The successful candidate will work with Professor Xuan Thuy Nguyen in the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University. Potential applicants may apply for a doctoral program at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University through the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Department of Law and Legal Studies, or the Institute of Comparative Studies in Literature, Art, and Culture.

The fellowship is valued at CAN 15,000/year over 4 years (2021-2025), with a possibility of renewal in the fifth year of the project. You will also have a valuable opportunity to work in collaboration with an international research team with interdisciplinary scholars and activists in Political Science, International Development Studies, and Critical Disability Studies in Vietnam, Canada, Haiti, and South Africa over the duration of the fellowship. If the incoming PhD student is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you are also eligible for a $2,000 top-up fellowship per year, up to a maximum of four years. The successful candidate may be eligible for an admission funding package and graduate student travel awards when applying to �Ӱ�ԭ��.

Eligibility: 1st year PhD student in Critical Disability Studies or related disciplines; 2nd year MA students with an interest in pursuing a PhD at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University are eligible to apply. Disabled, women, LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Qualifications: The applicant should have a MA in Critical Disability Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, or related disciplines; the applicant should be interested in and/or have some experience working in the global South; excellent writing and research skills; experience working with women and girls with disabilities is an asset. Ability to communicate in Vietnamese is not a requirement but would be an asset.

The application package should include: 1) A cover letter (1 page); 2) A Curriculum Vitae (2-3 pages), and 3) a writing sample (approximately 8-10 pages, double-spaced).

Please indicate in your application if you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

The application must be sent electronically in one pdf file and submitted to Dr. Xuan Thuy Nguyen at xuanthuy.nguyen@carleton.ca. Please use the subject title: PHD FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION_ CRITICAL DISABILITY STUDIES_LAST NAME.

Deadline: June 30th, 2021.

For further inquiries, please contact Dr. Xuan Thuy Nguyen at xuanthuy.nguyen@carleton.ca

A detailed job description can also be found:

• Word version
• PDF version

�Ӱ�ԭ�� �Ӱ�ԭ�� University:

�Ӱ�ԭ�� University is a dynamic and innovative research and teaching institution with a national and international reputation as a leader in collaborative teaching and learning, research and governance. As part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion, �Ӱ�ԭ�� has recently approved a Coordinated Accessibility Strategy, an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan, the Kinàmàgawin Indigenous Strategy, as well as a new Strategic Integrated Plan.

To learn more about our university and the City of Ottawa, please visit www.carleton.ca/about.

You are invited to the Transforming Disability Knowledge, Research and Activism (TDKRA) Knowledge and Mobilization event this upcoming October!

The TDKRA team has been working over the past 4 years (2016-2020) working with girls and women with disabilities in Vietnam in three rural locations. This project has primarily focused on the use of the arts to create a database and knowledge to improve disability policy with partnerships from Canadian universities and disability activists organizations in Vietnam. The hopes of this project is to put on center stage the experiences of women and girls to allow for sustainable and effective policy changes to create a more inclusive environment.

The event will consist of a film-screening of our documentary, an exhibition of the girls and women’s work from the July 2019 fieldwork, and an opportunity to discuss the works! The event is free of charge, with food and refreshments provided. This event will be accessible. We do ask that you register online through �Ӱ�ԭ�� Events or through this link:

Everyone is encouraged to come, even if you have not had the chance to register!

This event will be held Tuesday, October 22 from 4:30-7:30pm at the Dominion-Chalmers building (355 Cooper St.).

We hope to see you there!

The TDKRA team

There are people holding hands in a large circle, walking around a large statue. A man in playing an instrument on the left of the circle.

1. To engage women and girls with disabilities in the three piloted areas in mobilizing their knowledge on their right to inclusion;
2. To engage local communities and policymakers in the global South in building inclusive communities by working with girls and women with disabilities;
3. To mobilize the Disabled People Organization’s (DPO) leadership and advocacy;
4. To engage universities in the global North in learning from and with the women and girls with disabilities, alongside their communities in the global South
5. To involve disability activists, graduate, and undergraduate students in Canada in the knowledge mobilization (KMb) activities.

Activities: Our participatory activities included:

• Discussing how to use the works of participants such as a documentary film, and a catalogue consisting of drawings and photos as a means to mobilize their knowledge.
• Election – voting for disabled women and girls’ representatives for each group
• Building messages about the women and girls with disabilities’ leadership with their portraits through “I Am A Leader Because…” activity
• Creating action plans through a social media platform
• Involving community members and policymakers in dialogues through the exhibition and documentary film.

Methodologies: TDKRA is a participatory research project with a paradigm that is grounded in the values of the community (Nguyen, Stienstra, Gonick, Do, & Huynh 2019). It aims to contribute something of value to the community in which the research is conducted (Kirby, Greaves, & Raid, 2006). The engagement of researchers and practitioners in the global South and North, along with women and girls with disabilities in Vietnam, open up difficult conversations about implicit assumptions and practices that guide research and shape how and whose knowledge is reflected in the work. This community-engaged research paradigm is particularly useful for disability research in the global South, as it enables a mutually beneficial dialogue between researchers and participants in ways that value the participants’ voices and perspectives. (Nguyen, et al., 2019).

Procedures: The July 2019 Fieldwork took place from July 15-26 in Can Tho, A Luoi (province: Thua Thien Hue) and Bac Tu Liem (province: Hanoi). In general, the first two days aimed to discuss what approaches were to be used to engage with community members and policymakers by using their works to mobilize their knowledge. The main goal of day 3 was to mobilize knowledge based on what the girls and women shared through the journey engaging with the TDKRA project, to�� change knowledge and action of their communities regarding disability.

A workshop was named “K�ԴǷɱ���岵�� Mobilization with Girls and Women with D���������������پ����” that was held in Can Tho and A Luoi to create dialogues based on the local community. In Hanoi, the national workshop “Dialogues on Inclusion from Perspectives of Women and Girls with Disabilities in Vietnam” took place in the collaboration with the DPO Hanoi. Participants of these workshops included girls and women with disabilities, government officials, other organizations related to children and people with disabilities, and Agent Orange victims, school representatives, parents of children with disabilities, NGOs (UNICEF, UNDP, Girls rising, etc.), as well as community members.

On day 1, the girls and women reflected on the documentary film “Our Journey”, and the catalogue “Envisioning Inclusion”�� to discuss the use of tools to mobilize their knowledge. They defined who would be the audience and what outcomes they expected from the community engagement workshop on the last day. We also elected the representative of the group to give the lead to the participants as a way to empower them. The elected girl and women expressed their opinions and decided the number of members to participate.

Image 1: A group shot of the TDKRA members in Can Tho with catalogues, Can Tho, July 2019 Fieldwork

On day 2, the participants drew self-portraits and wrote the response for the statement “I Am a Leader Because…”. They then went on to do a mini exhibition amongst themselves and discussed ‘leadership,’ as seen in image 2.

Image 2: The participants view “ I Am A Leader Because…” exhibition, A Luoi, July 2019 Fieldwork

On the last day, the local (in A Luoi and Can Tho) and the national (in Hanoi) workshops took place. To start, we opened an exhibition about leadership and inclusion with the collection of drawings and photos divided into 5 main topics: engagement spaces, participation, views of the girls and women with disabilities (relating to specific themes such as barriers/discrimination/marginalization, inclusion, engagement, hopes and cultural identity), and what it is like to be a girl with disabilities, and disability activism. Another part of the exhibition were the portraits of all participants with their messages produced from “I Am a Leader Because…” activity. Each group of women and girls with disabilities presented their posters to the audience, as seen in image 3. Through the exhibition and documentary film, the day continued with two dialogues for the audience to express their feelings, thoughts, and responses for what the girls and women had shared. The final activity of the workshop was to engage the audience by answering the big question, asked by the women and girls: “How do the community listen to girls and women with disabilities?”

Image 3: The ethnic girl in A Luoi presenting a poster to the representatives from National Committee on Disabilities and the DPO Hanoi, Hanoi, July 2019 Fieldwork

Outcomes:

• Within 3 years of the participatory engagement process, the girls and women with disabilities participated in several activities, and created many works to share their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in their community. Mobilizing their knowledge played a critical role in creating social changes in their community. The activism of women and girls with disabilities partly shaped the community’s thinking as they wanted to be known. The girls and women reflected and discussed about their messages of their wants for inclusive society through their works.
• Reflecting on mobilizing their knowledge to community by using their works, the participants expressed their perspectives effectively. For example, through “I Am A Leader Because…” activity was a way to let the participants ponder on their capabilities and come up with their answers, to foster their leadership and to eventually empower them to be a leader with a disability.
• The girls and women expressed their strengths in the setting of the workshop for community engagement. In preparation for the workshop in A Luoi, for instance, we decided to let the candidates vote, to choose an MC among the 4 girls and women who wanted this position. After each candidate presented to the group as to why they should be the MC, a ten-year-old girl in A Luoi was elected, which was an important moment for her as this was her first time being elected as an MC. She demonstrated her dedication to her work with the help of the other girls and women (seen in image 4).

Image 4: The women and girls are preparing for the script as soon as the workshop begins, A Luoi, 2019

• The girls and women shared a lot about how they changed and how they were empowered by sharing their stories and experiences before and after the TDKRA project. They showed their capabilities and became confident in showing who they are and what they wanted other people to know about them by sharing their stories and perspectives in the community.

• The DPOs successfully organized the workshops through their network of policy makers, local authorities, government officers, NGOs specific to the disability sector, girls and women activists, school representatives, and parents of children with disabilities. The audience worked together with the girls and women to come up with solutions to promote the sustainability of the TDKRA project for the general disabled community and the participants of the project.

Image 5: A group shot of everyone taken at the national workshop held in Hanoi, July 26th, 2019

References

Kirby, S. L., Greaves, L., & Reid, C. (2006).��Experience research social change: Methods beyond the mainstream. Toronto:�� University of Toronto Press.

Nguyen, X. T., Stienstra, D., Gonick, M., Do, H., & Huynh, N. 2019. Unsettling research vs. activism: How might critical disability studies disrupt traditional research boundaries? Disability and Society, Special themed issue on Disability, Activism and the Academy.