David Bolt (disability studies) explained

David Bolt is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies and the Director of the Centre for Culture & Disability Studies^[1] at Liverpool Hope University, where he is also Professor of Disability Studies and Interdisciplinarity.^[2]

Academic work

Bolt joined Liverpool Hope University in August 2009 as a lecturer in Disability Studies. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, founder of the International Network of Literary & Cultural Disability Scholars, and was the first Honorary Research Fellow in the Centre for Disability Research at Lancaster University.

His published works include:

Monographs

• The Metanarrative of Blindness: A Re-reading of Twentieth-Century Anglophone Writing (The University of Michigan Press, 2014,).
• Cultural Disability Studies in Education: Interdisciplinary Navigations of the Normative Divide (Routledge, 2019,)
• Disability Duplicity and the Formative Cultural Politics of Generation X (Routledge, 2023,)

Edited Collections

• The Madwoman and the Blindman: Jane Eyre, Discourse, Disability Eds. David Bolt, Julia Miele Rodas, & Elizabeth J. Donaldson (Ohio State University Press, 2012,)
• Changing Social Attitudes Toward Disability Ed. David Bolt (Routledge, 2014)
• Disability, Avoidance and the Academy: Challenging Resistance Eds. David Bolt & Claire Penketh (Routledge, 2016,)
• Metanarratives of Disability: Culture, Assumed Authority, and the Normative Social Order Ed. David Bolt (Routledge, 2021,)
• Finding Blindness: International Constructions and Deconstructions Ed. David Bolt (Routledge, 2022,)

Book Series

• Literary Disability Studies Book Series Eds. David Bolt, Elizabeth J. Donaldson, & Julia Melie Rodas (Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Publishing)

1. Friederich, Patricia. The Literary and Linguistic Construction of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: No Ordinary Doubt. (2015, New York: Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
2. Disability in Comic Books and Graphic Narratives Eds. Chris Foss, Jonathan W. Gray, & Zach Whalen (2016, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
3. Disabling Romanticism: Body, Mind, and Text Ed. Michael Bradshaw (2016, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
4. Thompson, Hannah. Reviewing Blindness in French Fiction, 1789-2013. (2017, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
5. Tankard, Alex. Tuberculosis and Disabled Identity in Nineteenth Century Literature: Invalid Lives. (2018, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
6. Literatures of Madness: Disability Studies and Mental Health. Ed. Elizabeth J. Donaldson (2018, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
7. Row-Heyveld, Lindsey. Dissembling Disability in Early Modern English Drama. (2018, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
8. Performing Disability in Early Modern English Drama Ed. Leslie C. Dunn (2020, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
9. Grubgeld, Elizabeth. Disability and Life Writing in Post-Independence Ireland. (2020, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
10. Amputation in Literature and Film: Artificial Limbs, Prosthetic Relations and the Semiotics of "Loss". Eds. Erik Grayson and Maren Scheurer (2021, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
11. Healey, Devon. Dramatizing Blindness: Disability Studies as Critical Creative Narrative. (2021, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
12. Introna, Arianna. Autonomist Narratives of Disability in Modern Scottish Writing: Crip Enchantments. (2022, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
13. Haukaas, Anelise. Disability Identity in Simulation Narratives. (2024, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)
14. Placing Disability: Personal Essays of Embodied Geography. Eds. Susannah B. Mintz & Gregory Fraser (2024, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer;)

• A Cultural History of Disability General Eds. David Bolt, & Robert McRuer (2019, Bloomsbury,)

1. A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity, Volume 1. Ed. Christian Laes (2020, Bloomsbury Academic;)
2. A Cultural History of Disability in the Middle Ages, Volume 2. Eds. Jonathan Hsy, Tory V. Pearman & Joshua R. Eyler (2020, Bloomsbury Academic;)
3. A Cultural History of Disability in the Renaissance, Volume 3. Eds. Susan Anderson & Liam Haydon (2020, Bloomsbury Academic;)
4. A Cultural History of Disability in the Long Eighteenth Century, Volume 4. Eds. D. Christopher Gabbard & Susannah B. Mintz (2020, Bloomsbury Academic;)
5. A Cultural History of Disability in the Long Nineteenth Century, Volume 5. Eds. Joyce L. Huff & Martha Stoddard Holmes (2020, Bloomsbury Academic;)
6. A Cultural History of Disability in the Modern Age, Volume 6. Eds. David T. Mitchell & Sharon L. Snyder (2020, Bloomsbury Academic;)

• Autocritical Disability Studies Book Series. Ed. David Bolt (Routledge)

1. Metanarratives of Disability: Culture, Assumed Authority and the Normative Social Order. Ed. David Bolt (2021, Routledge;)
2. Finding Blindness: International Constructions and Deconstructions. Ed. David Bolt (2022, Routledge;)
3. Pritchard, Erin. Midgetism: The Exploitation and Discrimination of People with Dwarfism (2023, Routledge;)
4. Bolt, David. Disability Duplicity and the Formative Cultural Identity Politics of Generation X. (2023, Routledge;)
5. Houston, Ella. Advertising Disability. (2024, Routledge;)

Centre for Culture & Disability Studies

Bolt is the director of the Centre for Culture & Disability Studies (CCDS; Liverpool Hope University). The work of the CCDS is fundamentally concerned with social justice; with challenging and changing the inequalities and prejudices that disabled people face on a daily basis.

Key areas of interest include:

• The analysis of representations of disability in all forms of cultural production (e.g., literature, film, art, advertising, television, etc.), and how these shape wider public understandings of disability.
• Curricular reform at all levels of education.

The CCDS events are internationally recognised for bringing together a mix of Early Career Researchers and some of the most eminent professors in the field. The seminars are often filmed. People can now subscribe to this channel to access various videos.

Creative writing

In the early 21st century, Bolt was involved in creative writing as a tutor at Newcastle Under Lyme College and as a writer of poetry and short stories. His short stories appeared in Breath and Shadow, the literary magazine of the organization Ability Maine. Short stories include, "Spangles", "The Currency of Beauty", and "The Silent Treatment". "The Silent Treatment" was anthologized in the book Dozen: The Best of Breath and Shadow (2016, CreateSpace;).

External links

• Centre for Culture & Disability Studies
• Disability Archive UK
• CCDS YouTube Channel

Notes and References

1. http://ccds.hope.ac.uk/ Centre for Culture & Disability Studies
2. http://www.hope.ac.uk/staffindex/staffmembers/name,2448,en.html Liverpool Hope University Staff Index