FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

January 31, 2008

DISABILITIES SCHOLAR TO DELIVER CONVOCATION AT GRINNELL COLLEGE

Please note: This lecture will be signed by a professional interpreter.

GRINNELL, IA.- Disabilities scholar Brenda Brueggemann will deliver the Grinnell College Scholars’ Convocation on "Eugenics, Economics, Euthanasia: The Nazi T-4 Program Against People with Disabilities" on Thurs., Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. in the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101, on the Grinnell College campus.

Brueggemann, who is an associate professor of English and coordinator of the academic disabilities program at Ohio State University, will discuss the T-4 program used during World War II to euthanize more than 70,000 people with disabilities, those considered by Hitler to be "useless eaters" or "lives not worth living."

Brueggemann, who is hearing impaired, has won accolades for her scholarship in deaf and disability studies and her dedication to diversity issues. She has written numerous books, essays, and articles on deaf and disability studies, including "Disability Studies: Enabling the Humanities," and "Lend Me Your Ear: Rhetorical Constructions of Deafness." Her disabilities work has been recognized by Ohio State, the Ohio Humanities Council, and the Coca-Cola Foundation for Research on Women.

Brueggemann’s lecture, which is part of a disability awareness series at Grinnell, is sponsored by the college’s Ad Hoc Committee on Disability Issues. The Rosenfield Center is located at 1115 8th Ave. on the Grinnell College campus.

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