Call for Proposals: Disability Studies and Advocacy in Los Angeles 2027 | Conference at Loyola Marymount University

The Coelho Center welcomes submissions for our third annual Disability Studies and Advocacy in Los Angeles (DSALA) Conference on April 3, 2027.

This year’s theme is: Without Us: Care Workers, Dependency, and Disability Rights.

Submit your proposal using this form

Proposal deadline: December 18, 2026

Notification of acceptance: February 1, 2027

The disability rights movement has transformed law, policy, and public life in pursuit of dignity, equality, and better lives for people with disabilities. For many disabled people, safe and dignified care and support are an essential part of that work. Care workers often face low wages, inadequate public funding, workforce shortages, and inequalities shaped by race, gender, and immigration status. Yet the rights, working conditions, and dignity of care workers are rarely treated as disability rights issues, even though the lives and well-being of disabled people and care workers are deeply connected.

This conference invites disabled people, care workers, family caregivers, advocates, scholars, attorneys, policymakers, service providers, students, artists, and community members to explore the complicated relationships among care, dependency, and disability rights.

DSALA 2027 will feature a book talk and signing by Dr. Mary Howard, Professor Emerita of Anthropology Ohio Wesleyan University, on her book Confessions of a Care Worker: Stories of Disability and Dignity (forthcoming February 2027, University of Kansas Press).

Possible Topics

1. Medicaid, Medi-Cal, home- and community-based services (HCBS), and how long-term care and support are funded
2. Care work and caregiving in the history of disability rights and independent living
3. Family members and caregivers as advocates, organizers, and political actors
4. Caregiver advocacy and its relationship to self-advocacy
5. Paternalism, protection, risk, and the right to make decisions
6. How laws, policies, and communities understand dependency
7. Interdependence and mutual support
8. The experiences and rights of people with intellectual, developmental, cognitive, or complex disabilities
9. Supported decision-making, guardianship, and decisions made on someone else’s behalf
10. Direct support professionals, personal care attendants, and the disability care workforce
11. How race, gender, immigration status, and class shape care work
12. Aging caregivers and planning for the future
13. Institutions, moving people out of institutions, and community living

These are only examples. We welcome proposals from many perspectives and fields, including research, law and policy, history, advocacy, art, storytelling, and professional or lived experience.

How to Submit

Please include:

1. The title of your presentation or session
2. The type of session you are proposing
3. A description of no more than 300 words
4. The names and affiliations, if any, of all participants
5. A short bio for each participant
6. Any access or presentation needs you would like us to know about

For more information, visit their webpage, email, or call 310.568.6608