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.

The deadline for the Call for Proposals will be out later this Fall. Stay tuned and subscribe to our listserv to ensure you get all the up-to-date information. You can also follow our Twitter Account at @InclDisability.

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.

In 2021 we provided Live Captioning, ASL and CDI interpretation, presenters shared their slides in advance and we recorded everything and made it available to all attendees. If there are other accessibility features you’d like to recommend please reach out, we want everyone to feel included in the 2023 event!

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 need 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.

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

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.

Registration for the event and call for submissions will be available on the Summit’s website in early 2023.

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.