I am Jesse Rice-Evans (she/her/hers), a PhD student in rhetoric and composition at the CUNY Graduate Center studying digital rhetoric, embodiment theory, and disability writing. Because of my interest in critical politics and cultural studies, my work stretches across many areas in the humanities, but my current research looks at queer and disabled communities creating their own dialects on Twitter, and the queer meme community on Instagram.

This semester, I’m letting all my students know a bit about my own access needs:

1. Please refrain from wearing or applying any scented products in our classroom, including lotions, cologne or perfume, essential oils, clothes soaked in fragrant laundry detergent, etc.
2. I have an undiagnosed neurological condition that affects my memory, ability to concentrate or tune out background noise, and sometimes means that I will forget words, your names, or what I was just talking about. Please practice patience with me, and know that I will do my best to communicate to y’all if I’m feeling especially symptomatic. Here’s a video about brain fog and cognitive impairment if y’all are curious 🙂
3. I also have a chronic pain and fatigue disorder, which is one of the reasons this course will exist ~40% online. Sometimes, this means I’ll be running late because #MTAproblems and sometimes it means that I’ll need to cancel class. I am committed to communicating this as far in advance as I possibly can, so please be prepared to check our course site *regularly*.