BPS Seminar Series
Building Anti-Ableism Through Representation in Children's Material Culture
A series of three seminars based at Queen Margaret University, the University of Strathclyde and the University of Cambridge. This seminar series brings together scholars and practitioners from psychology, education, disability studies, children’s material culture and related fields. We aim to foster critical dialogue on how disability representation, and its absence, shapes children’s identities, relationships, and societal attitudes.
Seminar Three: Film and Television (University of Cambridge)
The third hybrid seminar took place on 12 June 2026, 09:30–13:00 BST, hosted at the University of Cambridge, and online via MS Teams. The seminar was free to submit an abstract to, register for, and to attend
Information and Registration
This seminar was co-hosted by the Centre for Research in Children’s Literature, Homerton College, and the University of Cambridge. It was held in-person at Homerton College, the University of Cambridge, and online.
Seminar Two: Books and Reading (University of Strathclyde)
The second hybrid seminar took place on 21 April 2026, 13:00–16:30 GMT, hosted at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) and online via MS Teams.
Information
Speakers included:
Prof Sarah McGeown (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Charlotte Webber (University of Strathclyde)
Dr Zinnia Mevawalla (University of Strathclyde)
This seminar was co-hosted by the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre and the University of Strathclyde. It is being held in-person at the University of Strathclyde (Stenhouse Wing, 199 Cathedral Street. This venue has level access) and online.
Below is a selection of slide decks from the event, which we have permission to share on this site. Please do cite them appropriately, as you use them. in your own research.
Building anti-ableism through representation in childrens material culture
Signe Rudoviča
Seminar One: Toys and Play (Queen Margaret University)
The first hybrid seminar took place on 26 February 2026, 13:00–16:30 GMT, hosted at Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh) and online via MS Teams.
Key Note Speaker: Rebecca Atkinson (she/her)
From sparking ideas to developing imaginative outcomes across children’s industries, Rebecca is an original thinker –adept at storytelling, production and the creation of compelling worlds. She is the founder of ToyLikeMe and creator of MixMups for Milkshake! including developing Ultra Access, a revolutionary interactive technology
Key Note Speaker: Ian Harkin (he/him)
Ian Harkin is a co-founder and CEO of Arklu. Arklu is an Irish toy company founded in December 2010. Lottie Dolls are Arklu’s flagship dolls launched in August 2012, designed with proportions and stories inspired by real children to promote play, imagination and positive representation.
Key Note Speaker: Christina Lee (she/her)
is a Research Associate for Knowledge Exchange for Disability Matters at the University of Sheffield. She completed her PhD in English and Medical Humanities at King’s College London in 2023. Her current work focuses on how disability can expand equity, diversity, and inclusion, and drive transformative knowledge exchange in research.
Programme and Abstracts
This is available via the button below. If you need the file in a different format, please email SJones [at] qmu.ac.uk