Cripping Education: Re-envisioning More Accessible Classrooms in Post Secondary Education

Abstract Book of the 5th International Conference on LGBT studies

Year: 2026

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Cripping Education: Re-envisioning More Accessible Classrooms in Post Secondary Education

Manchari Paranthahan Paranthahan

ABSTRACT:

Higher education has often presented barriers to many communities because of its colonial roots. While higher education was initially created for white cis-males, student populations have become more diverse in the past few decades (Michalski et al., 2017). Despite this increase in diversity, barriers like rising costs and hostile education settings continue to make higher education hard to access for certain demographics. These barriers and limitations are compounded for students who are intersectionality marginalized, such as Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (QTBIPOC) Disabled students. In my doctoral research, I investigate the complex experiences of intersectional marginalization of QTBIPOC Disabled students in Canadian post-secondary education systems. Through this investigation, I seek to reimagine more inclusive and accessible education systems in Canada and beyond. The social and academic experiences of QTBIPOC Disabled students in education systems are largely absent from scholarly literature, speaking to their continued marginalization and erasure from academic discourses. My doctoral research is guided by the following questions: 1) How do QTBIPOC Disabled people experience post-secondary education? 2) How do the experiences of QTBIPOC Disabled people in post-secondary Canadian school systems impact their future career and employment choices? 3) How can the experiences of QTBIPOC Disabled people in Canadian post-secondary institutions expand policy and curriculum to be more inclusive? These research questions will highlight the lived experiences of members of this community while shedding light on improvements that can be made to education systems to make higher education more inclusive.

Keywords: Accessibility, Crip Theory, Disability Justice, Inclusive Classrooms, QTBIPOC, Queer Theory