Tobin Siebers (January 29, 1953 – January 29, 2015) was an American professor of literature, art, and design at the University of Michigan, and a key figure in the development of disability studies.
Siebers was born January 29, 1953 in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, the son of Harold Siebers and Marion Jansen Siebers. [1] He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis at the age of two years old and lived with post-polio syndrome for the rest of his life. Siebers graduated from Kaukauna High School in 1971. [2] He earned a bachelor's degree in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1975, MA in comparative literature from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1976, and a PhD in comparative literature from Johns Hopkins University in 1980. [3]
Siebers first wrote about his experience living with polio in his 1998 essay "My Withered Limb." [4] which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 1999. [5] His important books include Disability Theory (2008) and Disability Aesthetics (2010). In Disability Theory Siebers writes that "Disability is not a physical or mental defect but a cultural and minority identity." [6] Performance artist and disability activist Petra Kuppers referred to these works as "field defining." [7] He received the James T. Neubacher Award in 2009, from the Council for Disability Concerns. [7]
Siebers died in 2015, at the age of 62. [7] [19] His papers are in the collection of the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library. [3] In 2015, the University of Michigan Press and Department of English Language and Literature established The Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities, for best book-length manuscript on a topic of pressing urgency to disability studies in the humanities. [20]
Tobin Siebers (January 29, 1953 – January 29, 2015) was an American professor of literature, art, and design at the University of Michigan, and a key figure in the development of disability studies.
Siebers was born January 29, 1953 in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, the son of Harold Siebers and Marion Jansen Siebers. [1] He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis at the age of two years old and lived with post-polio syndrome for the rest of his life. Siebers graduated from Kaukauna High School in 1971. [2] He earned a bachelor's degree in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1975, MA in comparative literature from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1976, and a PhD in comparative literature from Johns Hopkins University in 1980. [3]
Siebers first wrote about his experience living with polio in his 1998 essay "My Withered Limb." [4] which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 1999. [5] His important books include Disability Theory (2008) and Disability Aesthetics (2010). In Disability Theory Siebers writes that "Disability is not a physical or mental defect but a cultural and minority identity." [6] Performance artist and disability activist Petra Kuppers referred to these works as "field defining." [7] He received the James T. Neubacher Award in 2009, from the Council for Disability Concerns. [7]
Siebers died in 2015, at the age of 62. [7] [19] His papers are in the collection of the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library. [3] In 2015, the University of Michigan Press and Department of English Language and Literature established The Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities, for best book-length manuscript on a topic of pressing urgency to disability studies in the humanities. [20]