Madeline Burghardt, BSc (OT-provisional), MSc, PhD

The purpose of teaching is to accompany learners in determining where and how they can make meaningful contributions and how they can become effective agents of social change. Teaching is about conversations in which ideas are discussed and debated, a process that allows students to discover their place of ontological belonging.

I encourage students to engage in small- and large-group discussions, to ask relevant questions of themselves and their peers, and to speak or otherwise share their ideas. Drawing from my critical disability studies background, I encourage students to adopt critical lenses through which they explore the factors underlying every story.

I incorporate the principles of Universal Design for Learning as much as possible in order to make my curricula and classroom inclusive and accessible, and am open to learning how to continue to develop skills in this area from those with lived experience. I have a consistent presence on campus and am open to meeting with students to discuss their academic goals and concerns.

Madeline Burghardt is an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Manitoba’s College of Rehabilitation Sciences. Her research focuses on the lived experiences of disability, particularly the systemic and historical oppression of disabled people. Burghardt’s work includes examining the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families, particularly survivors of total institutions and those impacted by ableism.

Her doctoral research, which examined the experiences of institutional survivors, their siblings, and parents, contributed to breaking open the stories of institutional survivorship in Canada. She has since conducted collaborative and participatory research, arts-based projects, and co-developed teaching workshops on the history of institutionalization. Burghardt has also worked with Canadian thalidomide survivors, focusing on their experiences growing up in an ableist society.

Burghardt’s research methodology combines qualitative and narrative approaches, using participant-led, collaborative strategies and alternate modalities for individuals who do not use speech. She is a co-investigator with the Participatory Advocacy Research Network and a co-founder of Mobilizing Critical Disability Studies for Change. She is also a researcher at the St. Amant Research Centre in Winnipeg.

Before joining the University of Manitoba in July 2023, Burghardt worked with disabled children and their families in underserved areas of northern Ontario and Zimbabwe. She has also taught at York University and Western University, focusing on critical disability studies and health studies.

Burghardt holds a PhD in Critical Disability Studies from York University, an MSc in Rural Extension Studies from the University of Guelph, and a BSc in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto. Her research has been supported by various grants, including the 2024 College of Rehabilitation Sciences Endowment Fund and a 2024 Connections Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Critical Disability Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2014
• Master of Science (MSc) in Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 2003
• Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1987

Awards

2024

• College of Rehabilitation Sciences Endowment Fund – Project: “Dismantling ableism in OT curricula: Recommendations from disability studies” ($3,840), awarded March 2024
• Connections Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada – Co-investigator with Principal Investigator L. Mullins (Brock University) and co-investigators A. Buettgen, P. Burnham Riosa, A. Fudge-Schormans, and A. Przednowek – Project: “Participatory Advocacy Research Network: Building authentic partnerships and collaborations to further the research and advocacy goals of the developmental disability community” ($79,702), awarded January 2024

2023

• Manitoba provincial government funding – Awarded as part of the *Weremy v. Government of Manitoba* class action lawsuit settlement for the removal of artefacts from the Manitoba Development Centre and the establishment of a public exhibition ($10,000)

Previous grants available on request.