Speaking Engagements
Kenny Fries is available to come to your campus or organization. Presentations can be chosen from the following or especially designed for the engagement:
- A reading from Kenny Fries's acclaimed books including The History
of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin's Theory, Body, Remember:
A Memoir, Anesthesia: Poems, and the ground-breaking anthology,
Staring Back: The Disability Experience from the Inside Out.
According to the San Diego Reader, Fries work "will forever change
the way its readers think about" persons with disabilities. For this work, in 1997,
Fries was named one of New Mobility Magazine Persons of the Year. He
can also read from his forthcoming book, The History of My Shoes and the Evolution
of Darwin's Theory.
- A faculty and staff development workshop which focuses on issues related
to serving your constituency of students with physical and learning disabilities,
including an historical overview of disability rights laws, information on the new
social model of defining disability and the relevance of the burgeoning disability
culture in a university setting and to a university curriculum.
- A writing workshop for students with and without disabilities, during which
participants get hands-on experience exploring and becoming aware of individual
and societal assumptions and expectations around disability. This workshop highlights
the use of humor and multicultural awareness in order to foster cross-culture communication
and understanding of perceived differences.
- A talk entitled "How I Learned To Drive: The Education of a Disabled Writer," in which Kenny Fries shares his experiences of being a student with a disability and talks about the need for access, as well as for role models for today students with disabilities. This popular presentation has been lauded by AHEAD and by the United Nations at their International Day of the Disabled.
Testimonials
- "Fries's analysis and presentation had a greater impact than our class discussions;
students started to be able to integrate and use this analysis in a way they had
been uanable to do previously. His work holds out the possibility of a theory of
disability that may help scholars see disability studies as central to any understanding
of difference, rather than as marginal, having nothing to do with us. His work is
intellectually rigorous and and challenges many people's long-held paradigms; yet
it also speaks to a wide range of readers."
— Barbara Di Bernard, Ph.D., Professor of English and Women's Studies, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
- "Kenny spoke with style and understanding for our conference. Kenny writing crosses
boundaries that few others have approached and which are mostly avoided in polite
discussion. Several people in the conference told me that his were the most insightful
and sensitive conference sessions they have ever attended. Some of these people
have been attending conferences for 20 years."
— Ron Blosser, Ph.D., Director of Office for Disability Services and Assistant Dean of Students, University of California, Irvine
- "The feedback from his session was extremely positive. We all felt this was a very
special day. The feelings in the workshop contributed to this overall change in
attitude toward this important topic. Many people indicated a change in their knowledge
about diversity as a result."
— Christine M. Casey, Ed.D, Assistant Superintendent, Greenburgh (New York) Central School District No. 7
- "A wonderful presentation! The Lafayette community appreciated Mr. Fries reading
from his powerful poetry and his provocative, beautifully written memoir. The students
said that Mr. Fries was their favorite speaker of the year. He remains a vivid,
inspiring memory on campus and we hope to bring him back one day!"
— Ruth Knafo Setton, Ph.D., Department of English, Lafayette College, Easton, PA
Engagements include:
- Access Bergen County
- Access Living, Chicago
- AHEAD National Conference
- Brandeis University
- Barnard College
- City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
- City University of New York Graduate Center
- Columbia University
- Donnelley Family Disability Ethics Program
- First Congressional Church, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Framingham State College
- Greenburgh (New York) Central School District No. 7
- Grinnell College
- Hokkaido Asai Gakuen University
- Kanto Area Disability Studies Working Group
- Lafayette College
- Mark Taper Forum Chataqua on Performance and Disability
- Mobility International USA
- Montclair State University
- National Forum on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities
- National Writers Union
- New York University
- NPR Morning Edition
- Ohio State University
- San Francisco State University
- Smith College
- State University of New York at Buffalo
- Stavros Center for Independent Living
- The Storytelling Center of New York City
- Syracuse University
- United Nations International Day of the Disabled
- University of California, Irvine
- University of Illinois, Chicago
- University of Iowa
- University of Massachusetts at Boston
- University of Michigan, Flint
- University of Minnesota
- University of Nebraska
- University of Tokyo "Barrier Free Project"
- University of Vermont
- Very Special Arts National Conference
- Wisconsin Public Radio
- Woodland Pattern Book Center
- Wright State University
Copyright 2007 Kenny Fries