For many years geographers conducting research on disability topics faced of obstacles finding audiences for their work, from the inappropriate placement of abstracts in conference sessions to rooms that were inaccessible for presenters and/or audience members. Geographers with disabilities faced additional obstacles traveling to and through conference host cities and venues.
Preceding the 1995 AAG annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, Deborah Metzel and Michael Dorn initiated phone conversations that eventually led to a call for geographers interested in disability and geography to gather at that year’s annual conference to discuss means to improve communication and foster further collaboration. GEOGABLE, the international discussion list on geography and disabilities was started by Michael Dorn in 1996.
Preceding the 1997 AAG meeting in Ft. Worth, Texas, geographers conducting research on disability issues (members of the GEOGABLE listserv) decided to form DAGIN, the Disability and Geography International Network. Over dinner in Ft. Worth, the decision was made to circulate a petition and form a specialty group within the AAG. In 1998 the Disability Specialty Group (DSG) was formally established. The Disability Specialty Group (DSG) debuted with a slate of sessions at the Pittsburgh 2000 meeting of the AAG, and has sponsored and co-sponsored paper sessions at all the annual AAG conferences since then.
Much of the business of DAGIN and the AAG Disability Specialty Group is conducted through the GEOGABLE discussion list. We encourage folks who are interested in the specialty group to subscribe. The link below provides subscription information to GEOGABLE.
Subscribe to GEOGABLE listserv here!