HopePunk is a literary/artistic genre that follows the basic tenets of things like steampunk, dieselpunk, cyberpunk, etc. It’s something that imagines the world – past, present, or future – as operating within a certain aesthetic atmosphere and within a defined rule system. For example, steampunk is a world stuck in the Victorian era where all technology is steampowered – even computing engines – and there is a lot of brass, gears, etc. It’s a definitive and recognizable style. Same with cyberpunk, but it imagines a near-future dystopia of inequality, unethical technology, and environmental collapse. Blade Runner is often used as a perfect example of cyberpunk. Over the last 10-15 years there has been a conscious effort to move away from only envisioning horrible futures where things only get worse. HopePunk imagines a world where we stop being assholes and actually find sustainable solutions to these issues.

While the IDGS Organizing Committee understands some may disagree with our call to action mentality, the themes are developed thoughtfully and with the needs and interests of disabled communities in mind. Agitate is an action-oriented word, but not one of exclusion or that inhibits community building. Rather, in the pure definition of the word, it is a call to disrupt the (ableist) norm. It is a challenge to passivity and a call to come together, as a community, to resist and rebel against all things that prevent disabled people, in many cases, from basic human rights.

There are disabled activists that, rightfully, acknowledge their own survival as a form of rebellion and resistance in an ableist world:

• Cripping The Resistance: No Revolution Without Us
• Resistance is Resilience
• Disability, Embodiment and Ableism: Stories of Resistance

While others choose to act in a manner that is less disruptive, we aim to create a space that provokes action. In some situations, both groups find themselves in the same room; in other cases it makes more sense to progress on near-parallel paths, intersecting only when methods of progress align. We wish to invite all disabled people, allies, and accomplices to participate, but we also understand we won’t always intersect on ideas and aims.

We are no longer accepting abstracts for the 2023 Summit. Stay tuned for 2025 and subscribe to our listserv to ensure you get all the up-to-date information. You can also follow our Twitter Account at @InclDisability.

Registration is now open on the Summit’s website.

Yes! Registration for the 2023 Summit will stay open throughout the event. Once you register, you will be sent a confirmation email that includes a link to the 2023 Event Itinerary. This document includes all Zoom links and sign on information.

Yes. With a global organizing team and an incredible global community, we continue to prioritize accessibility by providing an online environment to share and contribute.

We use Zoom, as we find it has the most features that we can use to ensure accessibility and participant engagement.

All 2023 IDGS sessions have been scheduled in Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Zoom links are only made available to registrants. Please register for the Summit and you will be sent an order confirmation via Eventbrite. At the bottom of this confirmation, the 2023 Event Itinerary will be linked. This document includes all sign on information.

All presentations will have Live Captioning and ASL interpretation. The Opening and Closing Keynotes will have CDI interpretation as well.

Presenters were encouraged to share their slides in advance, and these can be found on each presentation page of the 2023 Event Program. If there are other accessibility features you’d like to recommend please reach out, we want everyone to feel included in the 2023 event!

All presentations will be recorded and registrants will have access to them after the event. Please register for the Summit in order to receive access to all recordings!

Not at this time.

IDGS is a group of volunteers, so fundraising is done with multiple organizations, including non-profit, for-profit, and higher education entities to bring the event to everyone for Free.

FREE, for all! However, if you’d like to contribute financially to the event please let us know, we couldn’t do this without our amazing team of sponsors!

We are no longer accepting interest forms for the 2023 summit. 

But please let us know if you are interested in volunteering in future Summits! Volunteer roles include volunteer moderators for each session, and a team of volunteers to help with the media and technical logistics. If you are interested in joining these efforts please fill out our Volunteer Interest Form or contact us at disabilitysummit-committee@umd.edu.

The first Disability Summit was held in 2016 with 100 people in a basement of a library, and has grown to attract more than 1,000 internationally in 2021. The Including Disability Global Summit (IDGS) is a forum for professionals, educators, academics, service providers, advocates, family members, and disabled people (of course) focusing on disability issues to dialogue and collaborate across types of disability and institutions. The goal of the Summit is to bring focus to and promote discussion of key current events and research impacting disability in society. Read more about the history of the Summit.

In past years, attendees have included people from a range of universities, local and state governments, funding agencies, medical institutions, federal agencies, and non-profit and advocacy groups. Topics have included access to employment, design of physical structures and challenges of home ownership, special education, afro-futurism, usable and accessible technologies, diet and nutrition, racial injustice, criminal justice system, health systems, pandemics, online environments, voting, and wearable technologies, among much else.