Instructor Maria Rovito, PhD, was appointed Member-at-Large for the National Women’s Studies Association. NWSA, which is internationally renowned and is the defining society in Gender and Sexuality Studies, has over 2,000 members. Dr. Rovito will be holding this role for two years.
As part of this role, Dr. Rovito was asked to serve in a presidential session, “35 Years After the ADA: Disability Justice as Feminist Practice” at NWSA’s recent Annual Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The NWSA conference is one of the largest and most respected gatherings of scholars, activists and educators in the field.
Dr. Rovito and other national disability studies scholars and activists, including Dr. Sami Schalk, Dr. Nirmala Erevelles and Dr. Kristina Gupta reflected on the past, present and future of disability justice within feminist movements. Dr. Rovito shared her perspective on legal rights for disabled people and students, as well as announced her book coming out in April 2026, Cripping Endometriosis, which offers a feminist disability analysis of chronic gynecological pain.
At the conference, Janejene Oflonga ’27 (above left) presented a poster on Black feminism and reproductive justice, “Patient or Object?: Reproductive Justice & Liberatory Pedagogies in Disability Studies & Medical Humanities” alongside undergraduate students from Hiram College in Ohio. A Public Health major with a minor in Medical Humanities, Jane interned for Dr. Rovito over the summer and did an independent study with her on Black feminism and reproductive justice. This research was organized by Dr. Rovito and Dr. Hailee Yoshizaki-Gibbons for students in disability studies and medical humanities programs.
Social