2020 LSA Collegiate Fellow (Political Science)
About
Ann Heffernan received her PhD in political science from the University of Chicago in 2020. Originally from San Francisco, she holds an AB in social studies from Harvard College.
As a political theorist whose work is situated at the boundary between disability studies, feminist theory, and political thought, Dr. Heffernan takes seriously the importance of supporting a diverse student body. As a scholar and an instructor, she adopts an expansive approach to the study of disability and its relevance to broader questions of political membership, equality, and social change, stressing the points of connection with other categories of political and social disqualification. A recipient of an inclusive pedagogy grant from the University of Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, she was involved in revising the political thought core course sequence to make it more attentive to race, gender, and disability. During her time at Chicago, she also benefitted from an ongoing involvement with the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, where she served as a residential and dissertation fellow, and, from 2014-2020, as the coordinator of Gender and Sexuality Studies Workshop.
Current Work:
Dr. Heffernan's current book project, "Disability: A Democratic Dilemma," brings into view the significance of disability in mediating the relationship between citizens and the American state. Drawing upon historical and contemporary examples‚ among them the rise of waged labor, the Flint, Michigan water crisis, the healthcare debate, and, most recently, the proposed expansion of public charge requirements in US immigration law‚ show how the boundaries and defining features of political membership are stabilized and recast in and through disability. Where existing research emphasizes the exclusionary ground of liberal citizenship and its consequences for people with disabilities, Dr. Heffernan argues that disability as a concept, legal category, and medical condition has become a crucial mechanism through which to negotiate transformations in the obligations and entitlements of citizenship.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Political theory, disability, feminist theory, American political development
