Dr. Laura Heath-Stout

3. Demonstrate improvement in the research and writing skills that they have chosen to develop through the flexible assignment structure of the course.
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By the end of the quarter, students will be able to:
1. Articulate several major ideas from disability studies and apply them to archaeological case studies.
2. Explain how disability studies and disabled self-advocates are reshaping the practice of archaeology.
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We will examine a variety of theoretical frames drawn from Disability Studies and other disciplines and consider how they can be usefully applied to archaeology. Case studies from a variety of geographic and temporal contexts will provide the basis for imagining an anti-ableist archaeology. 🏺♿

Course Description and Outcomes:
In this course, we will explore the ways archaeology and disability relate to each other, including both the ways archaeologists interpret disability in the past and how ableism shapes the practice of archaeology in the present. 🏺♿

Flyer text: ANTHRO/ARCHLGY/FEMGEN 139/239 Archaeology and Disability Winter 2026 Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30–2:50pm Building 200, Room 2:10 WAYS: EDP Course Description: In this course, we will explore the ways archaeology and disability relate to each other, including both the ways archaeologists interpret disability in the past and how ableism shapes the practice of archaeology in the present. We will examine a variety of theoretical frames drawn from Disability Studies and other disciplines and consider how they can be usefully applied to archaeology. Case studies from a variety of geographic and temporal contexts will provide the basis for imagining an anti-ableist archaeology. Dr. Laura Heath-Stout lheathst@stanford.edu Flyer images: photo of objects of personal adornment from Western Washington Hospital for the Insane, USA (from Linnea Kuglitsch's dissertation), artistic reconstruction of a temple with a ramp, Epidauros, Greece (from an article by Deborah Sneed), artistic reconstruction of a disabled H. heidelbergensis, Atapuerca, Spain (from a 2010 article in El Mundo); my headshot showing a smiling white woman in my 30s, wearing a brightly colored shawl

Super excited to be preparing for my Archaeology 🏺 and Disability ♿ course for winter quarter! Registration starts this week, and I hope lots of awesome @stanford.edu students sign up! I'll be posting about the class here on BlueSky too, and would love to have some good pedagogy conversations!

Good question! I don't think it's being recorded but I will double-check and get back to you!

In this talk, I will explore how archaeology and disability studies can be brought together to create more rigorous and inclusive interpretations of the human past.

Simultaneously, the interdisciplinary field of Disability Studies is deeply engaged with studying the past, but almost never uses archaeological methods. ...

Yet we rarely engage with the expertise of disabled people in the present or theory from disability studies that could help us understand past disabled lives. ...

Indeed, since all human communities have members with a variety of bodies and minds, all archaeology is, in part, the archaeology of disability. ...

Abstract: Whether diagnosing illnesses and injuries in human remains, identifying the material culture of medical care, or excavating historical sites of institutionalization, archaeologists often discuss disability. ...

Info: archaeology.stanford.edu/events/lunch...
Register for Zoom: qrco.de/bgSCzn

I'm giving a talk at my work this week that is being broadcast online via Zoom! Maybe you're interested in watching?

"Archaeology of Ableism and Ableism in Archaeology: Building a More Rigorous Archaeology through Disability Studies"
Wednesday, November 19, 12-1pm Pacific

#academicsky 🏺♿

(also the album recording of the song has an adorable child voice: open.spotify.com/track/4OXRqv...)

YouTube video by mama nous i am just fine (positive affirmation song)

A song for the academic job market: www.youtube.com/shorts/b-pnz...

"I am just fine, just as I am. I don't have to try to be better than anybody else 'cause I love myself just the way that I am."

@mamanous.bsky.social 's intended audience might be my kids, but I sing her songs to myself daily.

Very cool, thanks!!

Wow this looks great, can't wait to read it!

Awesome, thank you!

... Students will choose among a variety of projects that allow them to practice engaging with non-archaeologist publics about archaeological topics in a variety of media or formats. No archaeological experience required.

... public archaeology programming, and community-driven archaeology projects. We will evaluate the effectiveness of these forms of public engagement for teaching non-archaeologists about the human past and its inhabitants. ...

Course description:

In this course, we will examine the ways a variety of publics learn about and engage with archaeological topics, including fictional media, science journalism, pseudoarchaeology media, social media, publicly-accessible sites and museums, ...

I'm starting to work on designing my "Archaeology and the Public" course for next spring. Does anyone have syllabi, assignments, or lesson plans they'd be willing to share on the subjects of public arch, collaborative arch, pseudoarch, or journalistic & pop culture depictions of arch?🏺 #academicsky

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

This, AND even if they were only the rights of a tiny minority, they'd be worth fighting for.

Trans rights are not the rights of a tiny minority, trans rights are everyone’s rights to self-determination, control of our bodies, and a society where opportunity and aesthetics are not restricted by sex assigned at birth

You should support and defend trans people because trans people are people

I don't know this HR lady, but there's some chance she could be an ally in those fights, if we don't alienate her by taking out our frustrations about our crumbling society on her. C'mon people.

two men are sitting at a table with bloomberg in the corner ALT: two men are sitting at a table with bloomberg in the corner

Or think even bigger and organize for a society where there's free good-quality universal public education starting when people go back to work after a year of paid parental leave and unlimited paid sick time, so we don't NEED our employers to contract with a corporation to give us "backup care"

a naked woman is holding a sign that says union in her hands . Alt: Gif from the movie Norma Rae: Norma stands on a table holding a sign that says "UNION"

I also have no reason to believe that being unkind to her is going to have any positive effect! If you're pissed about your employer cutting your benefits, UNIONIZE.

But I have no reason to think that this was Denise in HR's idea, or that she had any power to oppose it. She might be the reason we still get half of the benefit we got last year! Who knows!

Now, I get it. Parents are absolutely not supported in our society. We have extremely minimal safety net, and a benefit from work that provided a shred of that net just got cut in half. It's enraging!