Minutes for the CDI Meeting

Date: August 22, 2024
Time: 4:00-5:30 PM EST
Location: Zoom

Attendees: Carolyn Fornoff, Jennifer Nelson, Jason Farr, Eduardo Ledesma, Lauren Rocha, Junting Huang, Terrence (Terry) Callaghan, and Stacey Courtney

1. Greetings and Introductions
Carolyn welcomed everyone, including new members, and extended thanks to the interpreters and captioner. She explained the structure of the CDI committee, noting the three-year commitment for all members, with co-chairs also providing mentorship. The minutes from the last meeting were reviewed and approved.

2. CDI Mission
Carolyn reiterated the mission of the CDI, emphasizing its focus on supporting disabled scholars and ensuring accessibility at the MLA convention. She invited questions.

Junting asked about CDI’s specific roles within the MLA, to which Stacey clarified that CDI sponsors 2 guaranteed panels and also curates a list of sessions on general topics, with the possibility of additional collaborative sessions. Terry added that CDI also advises the Executive Council on broader disability issues in the profession.

Lauren inquired about MLA’s dissemination of accessibility guidelines to institutions. Terry explained that the guidelines are published on the MLA website but acknowledged limited direct reach to institutions. The MLA welcomes proposals and suggestions. Eduardo confirmed with Terry that these guidelines are continuously updated on the MLA website.

3. Committee Collaborations
Carolyn invited brainstorming for the upcoming year’s agenda, focusing on accessibility best practices and collaborations with other committees. Jennifer shared her experience with previous conversations at the convention, suggesting that more substantial efforts are needed for future collaborations. Jason suggested a collaborative panel on haptics or tactility with the Committee on Information Technology. Eduardo suggested early outreach to potential collaborators before the convention, and Jennifer agreed.

Terry mentioned that last year was the first time all MLA committees met together, an initiative started by CDI. Stacey emphasized the importance of the three-month window from January to April for collaborative proposals.

Junting proposed collaborating with the Information Technology Committee to create a resource guide for emerging technologies for disabled scholars. Terry suggested starting with a one-time experiment like a panel before committing to a larger project since maintaining such projects is demanding.

Lauren asked if all sessions could be live recorded at the convention to accommodate remote participants. Stacey explained that logistical and financial constraints currently prevent this, although online sessions are available, and in-person sessions can be switched to online if needed.

4. Hiring Guidelines

The committee discussed preparing accessibility and hiring guidelines for inclusion in the MLA’s “Profession” publication. Jennifer suggested revising the existing guidelines, a topic to be addressed in the next meeting. Eduardo expressed interest in working on the guidelines and sharing them with his home department.

5. Looking Forward to MLA 2025
Carolyn led a brainstorming session on engaging with the MLA 25 theme of “Visibility.” Jennifer raised concerns about the word “visibility” and suggested exploring more inclusive language. Jason mentioned a panel on multisensory perception and agreed to follow up on it. Carolyn asked about using Twitter for outreach, and Jennifer pointed out the platform’s recent accessibility issues.

6. Review of Access Issues
(Technical issues with captioning during the meeting were noted, and Jennifer expressed concern about missing accurate information on Zoom.)

The committee reviewed access challenges from previous years, emphasizing the need for CDI’s panels to model best practices. Carolyn highlighted issues with late paper submissions, stressing the importance of timely submissions to allow interpreters to prepare. Carolyn also acknowledged that perfect accessibility is almost impossible: presenters often face the stress of hyper-productivity (i.e., crip time), while interpreters need sufficient time to prepare for the audience. She suggested always staying communicative and clearly conveying the rationale for early submission to presenters. Jason agreed, sharing that in his experience, receiving paper submissions gradually was far better than getting them all at the last minute.

Eduardo inquired about the submission timeline and the availability of accessibility services. Stacey noted that submissions should be made 1-2 weeks before the convention (by December 21) and that real-time captioning and ASL interpretation are available upon request.

The committee also discussed:

• Echoey Rooms: Carolyn recommended requesting portable microphones in advance.
• Access Copies: Carolyn encouraged panelists to use Humanities Commons as proof of publication; Jennifer also suggested using QR codes for access copies.
• Font Size: Eduardo recommended using 18-point or larger fonts for better visibility; Jennifer asked if dark mode would help.
• Audio Clips: Lauren suggested including audio clips along with transcripts.

Jennifer confirmed that last year’s convention had improvements, particularly with the deaf panel. The committee decided to focus on discussing the hiring guidelines at the next CDI meeting.

Stacey suggested the committee also consider future appointments to best represent diverse backgrounds and issues related to disability in the profession as members rotate out of the committee.

7. Action Items for Next Meeting

• Junting will provide the minutes
• Carolyn will send out the hiring guidelines
• CDI members will review the hiring guidelines

Prepared by: Junting Huang
Date: August 26, 2024 

CDI Members Present: Carolyn Fornoff, E. Nicole Meyer, Jason Farr, Jennifer Nelson, Eduardo Ledesma, Rebecca Day Babcock

MLA Staff present: Terrence (Terry) Callaghan (Director of Administration and Finance; Staff liaison for CDI), Stacey Courtney (Assistant Director of Convention and Events, Staff liaison for CDI)

1. Quick reminder and overview of CDI sessions for MLA 2025 (2025 9–12 January, New Orleans, LA): 2 guaranteed sessions:

a) Jennifer Nelson: Deaf Performance and Language

Disability and Hiring: access, accommodation, belonging, and retention

b) E. Nicole Meyer Disability and Hiring: access, accommodation, belonging, and retention

Please confirm Title & 35-word CFP to Nicole by 2/26/2024 so that I may get it in by the deadline.

c). Non-guaranteed session proposed: Eduardo Ledesma. Inclusive Generative AI: Disability, Culture and Artificial Intelligence

How might disability narratives explore AI? How can AI empower Disability Arts and Culture? What challenges does AI pose for Disability Studies (ableism, lack of representation in models)? How could art and literature crip AI?

Feel free to reach out to Stacey with additional questions about how to write a successful proposal.

d) Collaborative session (guaranteed session for IT, however, they will welcome a focus on disability perspectives and submissions from us)

2. Access issues that arose at MLA (the proper provision of access copies, et al.). Address complaints: consider modifications to increase proper access at MLA sessions. Appoint sub-committee? Or work as a whole?

On acceptance of papers, CDI Session organizers should require that panelists agree to meet certain requirements ahead of time. We on CDI should model best access practices.

We ran out of hard access copies. Encourage Session organizers to use the Humanities Commons to upload access copies for their presenters. If the Session Organizer creates a page on the Humanities Commons, where all access copies are located; this URL can be embedded in the program. Some may have trouble with QR codes; so we should also provide paper copies. Some people have worries about their work being stolen, but when you post something on the MLA commons, it is in fact a published record, so it is protected. Belt and suspenders: printed and QR code copies.

For a large session, requesting a microphone for the audience would be helpful. The request must be made ahead of time, and with a rationale.

How to help MLA as a whole with the issue of encouraging access copies? Mass email to session organizers? But top-down messaging doesn’t seem to be effective, it gets lost amid sea of other info. We should consider also bringing it up as session members to inform our own chairs about the importance of access copies.

Potentially craft a specific message from the CDI to session organizers about the importance of access copies. For MLA Seattle there was a robust discussion on twitter about access copies; seemed to generate a healthy response.

All we can do is to continue the drumbeat of the importance of access copies; there will always be noncompliance. It makes a difference that MLA has this as a policy, because it officially endorses this as a best practice.

The structural conditions are there: MLA provides CART, interpretation, strongly suggests providing access copies. It is our individual responsibility to comply. It is the right thing to do.

Suggestion of putting it on the cover of the program. Printed program is finalized by August; by the time it comes out, it is out of date. People tend to use the online program.

Could we make it a requirement for session providers to ensure access copies? Worried about making conference participation more onerous on session organizers.

Success of fragrance-free campaign. How can we make a similarly succinct message about access copies?

3. Other issues?

Last cross-committee meeting at MLA Philadelphia, there was some confusion about how time was managed. Other committees hadn’t met yet, we already had; so other committees were chatting about their own agenda items and not mingling. Next year, it will be organized so that everyone is on the same timeline and playing field.

Action items:

• Jennifer and Eduardo will submit their CFPs; reach out to Nicole with questions or for help
• Continue to think about messaging on access copies

Thanks again to Stacey for her work to support our committee: We have two ASL interpreters (Lisa Bennett and Jennifer Ward) and one CART captionist (Kayla Peters)

CDI members present: E. Nicole Meyer, Jason Farr, Jennifer Nelson, Eduardo Ledesma

MLA Staff present: Paula Krebs (MLA Executive Director), Ifeoma C. Kiddoe Nwankwo (Member MLA Executive Council); Terrence (Terry) Callaghan (Director of Administration and Finance; Staff liaison for CDI), Stacey Courtney (Assistant Director of Convention and Events, Staff liaison for CDI), Jana Owen (Lead ASL Interpreter), Nancy Sullivan (ASL Interpreter), 

Started meeting with Introductions/Presentations.

Executive Director Paula Krebs took the floor.

• Thanked committee for service. Some remarks on the importance of the cross-committee meeting (to be held on Jan 5, 2:30-4:00) as a forum to share ideas and make connections with other committees that may have overlapping interests, including the Committee on Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Profession, the Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Rights and Responsibilities (CAFPER) or the Committee on Information Technology, among others.
• Various ways of potential collaboration were mentioned, including collaborating on potential convention sessions but also issues beyond. It was mentioned that projects can initiate from cross-committee discussions rather than having to wait for the Executive Council.
• One potential committee to contact would be Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Rights and Responsibilities (CAFPER), since as a committee it establishes professional standards for conditions on the ground for academics, and they might have overlapping interests/concerns with CDI.

General discussion:

Accessibility Guidelines for hiring? Do we need to revisit these?

• Discussion ensued about whether CAFPER has accessibility guidelines, specifically regarding interviewing and department level issues. It would be of interest for CDI to investigate if these guidelines might need revising. Jason has already created a document for department chairs for campus visits that he could share.
• Paula mentioned MLA is trying to revive “Profession” (the MLA publication). If CDI prepared accessibility and hiring guidelines could be perhaps placed in “Profession” to disseminate widely.

Other suggestions for MLA to help in its capacity as an umbrella organization help in its capacity as an umbrella organization. Nicole mentioned MLA already assisting in SAMLA, where the work the committee does can be applied to a regional conference.

Paula mentioned theme visibility as the theme for next year’s convention in New Orleans, although the convention theme is not yet fully formalized (trying to make it as inclusive as possible). The idea is to get away from binaries involving sight as the only mode of apprehension. Paula will bring back some of the ideas to MLA President Dana Williams.

  Jason suggested a potential session around the question of multimodal or multisensory, something like “multimodal and multisensory approaches to knowledge.”

 Discussion on panels for MLA 2025 (New Orleans)

Building on the idea of multimodality we revisited the panels we had already previously discussed in the November meeting:

• Deaf Performance and Language
  • Disability and Hiring: access, accommodation, belonging, and retention
  • The Aesthetics of Mobility (eliminated)

Only two of these are guaranteed.

The committee settled on the first two left the third (The Aesthetics of mobility) out for now.

Nicole suggested the possibility to bring an actor from a deaf theater group to the conference, Terry said this idea could be suggested by the Committee to the MLA President. Jennifer has some contacts. Ifeoma said if it was someone local to New Orleans it might work better, and perhaps there could be some intersectionality considered as well (Perhaps in conjunction with the African American Literatures MLA Committee, something linked to African American theater, etc.).

Terry suggested the Disability in Hiring panel could also be a joint panel with CAFPER.

Terry reminded the committee that in addition to our two guaranteed panels and whatever third panel we might do in collaboration with another committee, any CDI committee member can propose a special session.

 The final selection of the panels:

• Deaf Performance and Language
  • Disability and Hiring: access, belonging, and retention

ACTION ITEM: We will need to determine as a committee who will lead each panel. Jennifer might consider leading Deaf Performance, but this is still to be determined.

ACTION Item: Regarding the third collaborative panel on multimodal and the multisensory approaches to knowledge, or some other option, – Jason will talk to people at cross- committee meeting and see what the possibilities for a joint panel might be.

Additional Discussion:

There was a reminder to attend this year’s sessions.

There was a question about suggesting new members for the CDI committee. Terry reminded us the committee changes in July, when two members, Nicole and Mel Y. Chen will rotate out. Terry suggested to look for areas that are not currently covered. Think about both questions of representation, but also areas of expertise (i.e. a Librarian?). Ideas can be sent to Terry.

Terry said for committee to consider potential projects / questions / suggestions that are not convention specific….  Bigger projects for MLA don’t need to be convention specific. When thinking of an issue, make sure it is not something the executive council is already working on.

 Meeting adjourned.

Planning for MLA in Philadelphia in January 2024:

• reminder about CDI meeting in person on Thurs Jan 4 at 11 AM
• Cross committee meeting on Fri Jan 5 from 3:30-4:45 PM
• brainstorm how to promote disability related panels: 122 The Aesthetics of Accessibility I (Thurs Jan 4, 5:15-6:30); 334: The Aesthetics of Accessibility II (Fri Jan 5, 3:30-4:45)
  • search for panels with key terms: visual impairment, crip, deaf, disability, neurodivergent, mobility, crip, blind, access, accessibility, sign language, gain, access, etc
• importance of turning in papers in on time to accommodate interpreters: Dec 22; nudge them if they have not turned in a draft by then
  • Ideally a full draft, access copies, outline, PPT, or glossary of key terms
  • If anyone has language that they feel is most effective in getting panelists to turn in their drafts in on time, please let Stacey know.
    • This is a question of access. Please make sure you are including all audience members by completing this simple request, in order to comply with ADA requirements. Interpreters need and deserve the time to analyze and process these documents.

Looking forward to MLA 2025 in New Orleans:

• Discuss panel ideas for our 2 guaranteed sessions as well as possible collaborations
• Deadline to submit the program copy for 2025 is April 1. We have between Nov-Feb, we can post calls for papers to solicit panelists.
• Panel ideas:
  • Deaf Performance, Theater, and Language
  • Disability and Hiring: access, accommodation, belonging, and retention
  • The Aesthetics of Mobility

Discuss access guidelines currently provided by MLA, as well as access best practices guide by Jason Farr and Travis Chi Wing Lau.

• Are there modifications that we want to propose to the current MLA access statement? (Note that these suggestions must be reviewed and approved by the MLA executive council at a future date.)
  • Should we add language addressing the pandemic or masking? Something about following public health guidelines or respecting other’s guidelines. But masking can also be a challenge for people who are hard of hearing.
  • Change recommended font size to 18 for handouts (per ADA requirements). This update will not need MLA exec approval, since the official ADA guidelines have changed.
  • Clarify the last line in the Papers section, to clarify the rule is for online meetings
  • Add PPT presentation accessibility guidelines from Jason and Travis’s doc. Here they are:
• Make your PowerPoint presentation accessible:
  • Use sans serif font styles, minimum 36-point font.
  • Do not go beyond six lines of text per slide. If you have a long quotation, divide it among two slides if necessary.
  • Avoid using outlandish colors or design schemes. Stick to basic, high-contrast models, either black font on white background, or white font on black background.
  • Describe to your audience in detail any images or graphics you choose to include in your slide show. Make sure you account for this in the timing of your talk.
  • Include transcriptions for audio and visual files.
  • Give a title to every slide.
  • Avoid distracting slide transitions and graphics.

Please let Stacey know by Nov 14 what sessions you plan to attend if you need CART or interpretation.

1. Crowdsource a list of MLA panels that address disability issues and studies (send to Stacey by Dec 7)
2. Finalize two CDI guaranteed sessions (put up CFP at the end of Nov, finalize submissions by April 1)
3. Look at PPT suggestion to see which suggestions are not currently in the MLA guidelines, decide what to propose to MLA (by Nov 13)

CDI Minutes – Sept. 26, 2023

September 26, 2023: agenda
1. Greetings and Introductions
2. Set agenda and goals for CDI 23-24:

a. Mission

b. Links with intersectional committees

c. Other ideas?

Disability issues are inherently intersectional, and CDI would like to conduct more panel collaborations with other committees to explore those ties. Nicole explained that this has been difficult to achieve, as proposed collaborative panels have not always received enough paper proposals or have not had the full support of our partnering committees.

Jason noted that the last paragraph of the CDI mandate focuses on the MLA Bibliography. Is there any work that we want to do on this? How can we better promote and make legible recent work in disability studies through the database?

Terry explained the history of this charge: a member of the Bibliography staff met with the CDI committee in the past, to change certain search terms in the bibliography. At that time, it was the Bibliography committee that requested that meeting and input, but we could be proactive about reaching out to them if there is something that we would like to address.

Nicole floated the idea of putting together a database or list of potential peer reviewers specialized in disability studies for journals.

3. Review MLA statement on access

a. Action item for Nov: potential revisions to access statement, inspired by Jason and Travis’ best practices article

This year we would like the committee to review the MLA statement access. Does it need to be updated? If so, how?

One path forward is to look at the best practices article published by Jason and Travis as part of a special issue on the public humanities, and see if there are any suggestions there that we would like to incorporate into the MLA official statement. Jason notes that article was published in 2019, and may not be fully up to date. Terry explains that all official MLA statements have to be reviewed and approved by the executive council. So perhaps after we incorporate ideas from the Jason/Travis document and synthesize it with the official communication, we can then send it off for approval.

Eduardo asked to clarify the committee’s charge. He noted that the official access guidelines are geared toward presenters (and could give recommendations on things like font size, which is often woefully undersized for the visually impaired) and what they should do, but wonders if CDI’s scope goes beyond presenters. Brings up lighting issues in MLA hotel conference rooms that also negatively affecting the visually impaired. Terry explains that we can certainly try to provide hotels with guidance on things like lighting, but may not be fruitful in those efforts.

Discussion about the scope of the committee: serves MLA conference attendees, members of the MLA more broadly, and provides guidance on issues in the profession.

4. Reminder about January sessions sponsored by CDI

a. Action item for Nov: collect list of disability-related sessions and promote

CDI Committee sessions for January 2024: sessions 122 and 334, please attend!

Jason and Nicole will contact their panel members to ensure they are up to date on the accessibility guidelines.

We will have a committee meeting on Jan 4^th, Thursday morning at 11 for one hour.

Perhaps Paula Krebs can meet with us for ten mins, think ahead of time of what we would want to talk about with her.

Discussed issues with CART at the last MLA conference. MLA was unable to find in-person CART, they only do it remote. At a conference, it is challenging to have remote CART work properly, since they have trouble hearing what is going on and capturing it accurately. MLA is trying to get an in-person CART interpreter, and enough ASL interpreters to provide access. Jennifer suggests that the in-person ASL interpreter coordinate with the remote CART captioner.

5. Schedule meetings for November and January (at MLA)

Our next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 7 at 3 PM EST.

Action Items for next meeting

• Review access statement currently provided by MLA, as well as access best practices guide by Jason Farr and Travis Chi Wing Lau. Are there ways that we can synthesize them? Are there any modifications that we want to propose to the current MLA access statement? (Note that these suggestions must be reviewed and approved by MLA executive council at a future date.)
• Come up with potential panel topics for 2025 in New Orleans (2 guaranteed sessions, but we can also propose non-guaranteed sessions, possibly with collaborators).
• Come up with topics to chat about with Paula Krebs in Jan (if she can meet with us for 10ish mins).
• Remind our Jan 2024 panel members of the importance of getting their papers in on time, to accommodate interpretation.