In this episode of the Disability Education and Society Podcast, we talk with Dr. Catherine Voulgarides, an assistant professor at CUNY Hunter College, about the intersection of disability, policy, and educational equity. She discusses how legal frameworks like IDEA shape access to education, the unintended consequences of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) policies, and the racial disparities in special education. Drawing from her research and personal experiences, Dr. Voulgarides highlights the challenges of compliance-based approaches and the need for systemic change to ensure true inclusion. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on the barriers and possibilities for disability justice in education.

Transcript link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1okkbLllLcT9vEURhl2ArekG5gFjzwZYjWRUspAwgWdc/edit?usp=sharing

In this episode of the DES podcast, we sit down with Dr. Rachel Lambert, associate professor at UC Santa Barbara, to discuss her groundbreaking book Rethinking Disability in Mathematics: A UDL Math Classroom Guide for Grades K-8. Dr. Lambert shares powerful stories about disability, inclusion, and the need to reimagine math education as a space of accessibility, creativity, and equity. We explore the systemic barriers that disable students in math, the power of time and collaboration, and the importance of challenging deficit narratives. Tune in for an insightful conversation that pushes the boundaries of how we think about mathematics and disability.

Transcript link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1khVmTMVCPXkYndjkYDuhvLSEr3VHWhszjdpAmgkWVrU/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Dr. Rachel Lambert's book: https://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Disability-Mathematics-Classroom-Grades/dp/1071926039

In this episode of the DES, co-hosts Paulo and Alexis return after a long break to discuss their latest academic work, activism, and the evolving political landscape. They explore the power of rejected scholarship as a catalyst for new ideas, the intersections of disability justice with broader social movements, and the urgent need for cross-coalitional solidarity in the face of rising authoritarianism. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on resilience, writing, and the ongoing fight for liberation.

Transcript link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kxvDROW3002856wPVzveWDIM4lzULtCv_sux_Gp4Kgo/edit?usp=sharing

In this episode, DES co-host Paulo Tan shares a practical application of abolitionist mathematics practices. This episode is a companion to episode #13 where Paulo laid out the groundwork for abolitionist mathematics practices. It is helpful but not necessary to first engage with episode #13 before engaging with this current episode. The practical application Paulo shares is one of infinite possibilities of abolitionist mathematics practices. Paulo shares this practical idea in the context of elementary mathematics teacher education.  

Presentation slide

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In this episode, DES co-host Paulo Tan shares a presentation he recently completed on abolitionist mathematics practices at Purdue University. Drawing on Black Feminist thought on prison abolition, Dr. Tan forwards three crucial tenets (i.e., imagining utopian futures, intersectional struggles, and immediate change making) to guide the fields of special and mathematics education. Dr. Tan argues that these tenets are necessary to eliminate harms disabled students encounter in special and mathematics education while collectively building more just futures. Situating this argument in elementary schooling contexts, Dr. Tan implicates mathematics education in its complicity and perpetuation of containment, a form of incarceration that denies opportunities to certain disabled students. As such, Dr. Tan calls on educational researchers and practitioners to take up leadership in this disability freedom struggle. 

Link to view the slide deck

Books mentioned: Abolition. Feminism. Now.

Decarcerating Disability: Deinstutionalization and Prison Abolition

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We turn inwards for today’s episode in a conversation with Dr. Alexis Padilla, this show’s cohost, about his upcoming book titled Decolonial Disability and Social Epistemologies. The first chapter of his book dives into the problems with how we think of productive struggle. We also engage in a brief reflection on the first few months after launching the Disability, Education, and Society podcast. Transcripts for this episode can be found here.  

Mentioned in this episode: Dr. Padilla's first book titled Disability, Intersectional Agency, and Latinx Identity Theorizing LatDisCrit Counterstories

Dr. Padilla's email: [email protected]

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Dr. Alison Mirin, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Mathematics Education at the University of Arizona, joins the DES podcast to discuss ableism and inaccessibility in mathematics education. We discuss the disconnect between how math is typically taught in schools and how students make their own meaning of math. Dr. Mirin shares her mathematics experiences as a researcher, a disabled student, and a former secondary classroom teacher.  Transcripts can be found here.

Mentioned in the show: Academic Spoonies Facebook group, Dr. Mirin’s ResearchGate page, and Mathematics Educator Appreciation Day (MEAD), American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) press release on disparities in special education referrals, and Building Thinking Classrooms.  

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In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Fernanda Malinosky who is a professor in the Mathematics Institute at Mato Grosso do Sul Federal University in Brazil. We discuss issues of education and clientelism, and inclusive educational perspectives in the Brazilian context. Transcripts can be found here.

Dr. Malinosky’s Mathematics Education, Diversity and Difference Research Group: https://sites.google.com/view/grupogedumat-ufms/about-us?authuser=0,Instagram @grupogedumad

Mentioned in the episode: Dr. Beatriz D'Ambrosio 

Journal Article titled "Exclusion and inclusion processes in mathematics classrooms: Reflections on difference, normality and cultural issues within three different contexts"

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In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Anna Stetsenko who is a full Professor in the PhD Program in Psychology (and the chair of Developmental Psychology), with a joint appointment in Urban Education Program, both at The Graduate Center, the City University of New York. We discuss Dr. Stetsenko’s conception of Activist‑Transformative Methodology and its role in addressing social and environmental crisis in the context of education. Transcripts to this episode can be found here.  

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Dr. Stetenko's email: [email protected]

In this episode, we our joined by Dr. Lisette E. Torres-Gerald, a scientist and disabled scholar-activist and Senior Researcher at TERC, a non-profit made up of teams of mathematics and science education and research experts. We discuss Dr. Torres-Gerald's advocacy work with Latinx Disabilities within and beyond the United States as well as in formal and informal STEM educational contexts. Transcripts to this episode can be found here.  

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Dr. Torres-Gerald's website: https://www.informalscience.org/ ; Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lisetteetorres3?lang=en; LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisette-torres-gerald-15721084

Sines of Disability: https://sinesofdisability.com/

Science for the People: https://scienceforthepeople.org/