The COVID-19 pandemic has raised many questions about the ways in which we exist in the world. From how we use our bodies to where our bodies can go and interact with one another, life has drastically shifted, particularly for underserved populations, including people with disabilities. As the pandemic evolves, society as we know it continues to be reimagined.

How has society’s understanding of disability influenced the way pandemics have been mitigated over time? How can humanity be reshaped and “edited” in this process? How does our understanding of humanity determine whose lives we value? Who will be left in a post-pandemic world? This online panel will explore these questions, with particular focus on COVID-19, from disability studies and justice perspectives.

Featured panelists include Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, a disability justice, and bioethics scholar and activist; Christina Palmer, Professor and Director of UCLA’s Genetic Counseling graduate program; and Neal Baer, a medical doctor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, who has reached popular audiences with health messages through his work with Hollywood. The panel will be moderated by Amy Bugwadia, a graduating UCLA Disability Studies minor and incoming Masters student at Stanford’s Prevention Research Center.