Emily Smith Beitiks

Emily Smith Beitiksreceived a PhD in American Studies at the University of Minnesota in April 2012. She attended the University of California, Davis and received a B.A. in American Studies. Emily's dissertation, "Building the Normal Body: Disability and the Techno-Makeover Industry," looks to integrate Disability Studies and Science and Technology Studies into American Studies. In particular, she questions U.S. hegemonic celebrations of the disabled body being "fixed" by technological interventions in science policy and popular culture, while looking at how people with disabilities understand the body/machine interface in ways that resist a simplified cyborg representation through the disability rights movement and emerging assistive technology-focused communities. She has taught at UMN, UCSC, UCD, and in Ghana with course topics covering social justice, cultural understandings of "the body," and the role of technology in American culture. She now lives in San Francisco and has been working with the Center for Genetics and Society since April 2011.