Stories on Disability Through Our Voices: Born This Way—A Conversation Between Author Yoon Joo Lee and Professor David J. Connor

This event celebrates the publication of Stories on Disability Through Our Voices: Born This Way (Routledge, 2025), the first solo book by Yoon Joo Lee, associate professor of childhood, bilingual, and special education. Lee will be joined by Professor Emeritus David J. Connor, Hunter College (CUNY). The book explores the lived experiences of Korean and Korean American women with visible disabilities in South Korea and the United States. Drawing upon the work of scholars in disability studies in education and feminist disability studies, it challenges readers to (re)consider their own misconceptions and assumptions about disability and reconceptualize their understanding of diversity. Lee’s work is distinguished by her ability to connect personally with the women she interviews, sharing unique yet overlapping experiences as a woman with visible disabilities. Part of the Routledge Book Series Autocritical Disability Studies, the book uses autoethnography to center the researcher’s personal experiences throughout the process. Lee and Connor will engage in a conversation around values of foregrounding voices of individuals with disabilities in various forms of research.