BCC English Professor Julia Miele Rodas, who this semester is teaching a new Disability & Life Writing class at the CUNY Graduate Center, has collaborated with students on a chapter of a recently published book titled Placing Disability. A book launch event celebrating the work of the six student authors – many of whom have graduated from BCC and returned as alum – was held in honor of the students’ personal essay contributions on living with disabilities and the impact of geography. Attendees gathered as BCC Chief Librarian Michael Miller ceremonially shelved the book, with its assigned Library of Congress call number, in the stacks at North Hall & Library.

BCC student authors who wrote about their lives in the Bronx include: Annette Serrano, Cindy Hernandez, Andrew Whyte, Sonia Gonzalez, Jovan Campbell, and Mary Morfe, with an introduction and editing by Professor Rodas and contributing author Sonia Gonzalez.

Serrano, who became permanently disabled as a result of an on-the-job injury as a NYC subway conductor, talks about navigating her new life with a mobility impairment and spoke at the event. “When I wrote this essay, I was in the middle of all I was going through. I felt stuck because I couldn’t do any of the things I used to be able to do, and taking public transportation was extremely difficult. Through my writing, I hope to inspire people to be kinder and more mindful of others that may need assistance.”

Following her injury, Serrano spent years avoiding leaving home alone until she decided to attend BCC, taking two buses each way to get to and from campus. She graduated with an associate degree last May and looks forward to continuing her education to pursue a bachelor’s degree in human services.

“I was 46 when I had the accident and couldn’t come back to the Transit in the same capacity,” Serrano added. “I felt the need to reinvent myself in my 50s. I am so grateful for all of the wonderful professors I met at BCC, including Dr. Rodas, who taught one of the first classes I took.”

Professor Rodas sets the stage for the essays in the book by writing, “For disabled Bronx residents, this geography, history, social and cultural context all interact with disability in complex ways.” She cites the essay that closes the student’s collaborative chapter, “Lemonade in the Bronx,” as “rewriting the Bronx as a hub of disability resources, culture and ingenuity.” An international collection of essays, Placing Disability is the most recent book in Palgrave Macmillan’s Literary Disability Studies series.