ARIEL MERKEL is a Ph.D. student in the sociology department of the New School for Social Research, who has dedicated her professional and academic life to promoting the rights of people with disabilities. In addition to four years of serving the developmentally disabled in the non-profit sector, and a current administrative position at the New School’s Student Disability Services Office, Ariel recently completed an international subcontract with the United Nations Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) to provide support on the publication "Toward an Inclusive and Accessible Future for All: Voices of Persons with Disabilities on the Post-2015 Development Framework." This publication documents the perspectives of people with disabilities from the Global South on a range of economic development issues.
Her current research stems from her previous work with people with disabilities in tandem with her recent international work, specifically feminist disability theory and a Goffmanian analysis of deinstitutionalization. She is fascinated by how disability, a malleable identity that shifts spatially and temporarily and yet is so deeply rooted to the body and literally embedded in bone, intersects with other identities that are typically conceptualized as socially constructed performances.
Ariel is a research consultant for disability-specific projects for the Cora Group, a management consulting firm which helps organizations meet the learning challenges posed by rapid change and global diversity. Ariel is also project fellow in the Future of Disability Studies at Columbia University’s Center for Critical Analysis of Social Difference and is proud to serve as a student representative on the New School University’s Social Justice Committee. She volunteers at Brooklyn Lacrosse as a coach for the 5th and 6th graders girls lacrosse team.
Her current research stems from her previous work with people with disabilities in tandem with her recent international work, specifically feminist disability theory and a Goffmanian analysis of deinstitutionalization. She is fascinated by how disability, a malleable identity that shifts spatially and temporarily and yet is so deeply rooted to the body and literally embedded in bone, intersects with other identities that are typically conceptualized as socially constructed performances.
Ariel is a research consultant for disability-specific projects for the Cora Group, a management consulting firm which helps organizations meet the learning challenges posed by rapid change and global diversity. Ariel is also project fellow in the Future of Disability Studies at Columbia University’s Center for Critical Analysis of Social Difference and is proud to serve as a student representative on the New School University’s Social Justice Committee. She volunteers at Brooklyn Lacrosse as a coach for the 5th and 6th graders girls lacrosse team.