About the Conference

Following the success of last year’s “A Neighborly Conversation”—which brought together over 250 attendees from across Los Angeles, Southern California, and the west coast—Loyola Marymount University is proud to host the second annual Disability Studies and Advocacy in Los Angeles Conference (DSALA 2026).

This year’s theme, “Ethics, AI, and Social Justice for People with Disabilities,” is presented in partnership with LMU’s Mellon Foundation–funded initiative, “Habitable Worlds: A Disability, Ethics, and AI Think Tank.” The grant supports faculty fellowships, courses, and community collaborations that explore how technology can help shape a more ethical and inclusive world.

The keynote speaker will be Rosemarie Garland-Thomson.

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson is professor emerita of English and bioethics at Emory University. Her expertise in disability bioethics, critical disability studies, and health humanities brings disability culture, ethics, and justice to a broad range of institutions and communities. She is a Hastings Center Fellow and senior advisor, a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is co-editor of About Us: Essays from the New York Times about Disability by People with Disabilities and author of Staring: How We Look and several other books.

When: Saturday, March 28, 2026, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Where: Loyola Marymount University, Westchester Campus, Los Angeles, CA 90045

Registration details will be available soon!

For questions, please contact the conference organizers at disabilitystudies@lmu.edu.