In this episode…
…a conversation with Aggie about the impact of internalized ableism on how she perceived her disability.
She currently is living in the United States with her family, but was born and raised in China. As a disability scholar and advocate for disability justice, Aggie is able to manoever from her personal experience of a physical disability to the cultural meaning making within the context of the Chinese mainland.
We cover a lot of ground, by way of personal stories; how family lore can impact the origin story of a disability. How pre-teen relations with peers affect expectations of the future, and how language can influence the ideas we hold about our bodies. And all the ways in which the oppressive cultural convictions about the assumed quality of life for disabled people, cause havoc in our communities. Necessary topics for our community to engage with, considering the current climate around the world.
On 10 December 2026 this conversation will be launched as episode 5.
Luanjiao Aggie Hu
Dr. LuanJiao Aggie Hu is a Visiting Research Scholar at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Brandeis University. She completed her PhD in the International Education Policy program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has taught and published research on disability inclusion, gender, and education. She is the founder of an international disability interest group called Disability Without Borders.
Dr. Hu is the lead guest editor for two special issues on Disability and China. She published her first book entitled Inclusion, exclusion, agency, and advocacy: Experiences of Chinese women with disabilities, with Worldwide Implications (Emerald Publishing, 2024) and is currently working on her second book project.
id: a portrait of aggie, who is a chinese female with black straight shoulder-LENGTH hair and brown eyes. she looks into the camera with a wide and friendly smile, wearing red lipstick and a silk garment with floral print, frog fasteners on lapel and standing collar.Building a powerful archive of embodied knowledge, one conversation at a time.