Becoming the Representation
By: Valerie Piro
“You can’t be what you can’t see” has become a call for representation and diversity. Essentially, the way to increase diversity in any given field is to recruit or promote the work of those from underrepresented backgrounds. Once others from such backgrounds see that it is possible to be in a field because they see someone like them, more from that background will enter that field. But what happens when you are in a profession where you feel at home, but no one looks like you in that profession?
I am a medieval-historian-in-training. I have been since the first day of my freshman year of college, when I wheeled into a lecture hall for the course “Medieval Europe” and fell head over heels for writings on old parchment, in dead languages.
Admittedly, it is a little odd that I would want to study medieval history. For starters, the region I study, Europe, is notorious for old and inaccessible architecture. Indeed, there are some libraries in England I cannot enter.
On top of that, no other medieval historian looks like me. I have met a couple of brilliant wheelchair users in academia (one of whom is a medievalist), but they’re both men, Christopher Baswell and Michael Stein come to mind. There are vast differences between how academia is experienced based on gender alone. Could you imagine how disability factors into things?
As an undergraduate, and more frequently now as a PhD candidate, I attend as many medieval history events on and off campus as I can. I’m eager to learn, but I also hope to find another woman who looks like me, who could provide guidance or at least let me know that a tenure-track job is attainable, but such a meeting has yet to occur.
The mentors I had in college were brilliant, but they couldn’t tell me whether my wheelchair might count against me in a job interview. Anyone involved in a hiring committee should base their decisions on the strength of the applicant (e.g. number of papers published, teaching experience). But my inability to find wheelchair-using female professors suggests that either no women who used wheelchairs saw medieval history as a career path, or, worse, that those who sought that path were told they did not belong.
Thankfully, no professor I’ve worked with has yet to dissuade me from seeking an academic career. It means there is some belief that I could be a scholar. I’ve come up, however, against campuses on steep hills, buildings without accessible bathrooms or elevators, tricky cobblestones and sidewalks that have resulted in more than one fall, and student housing with elevators that seemed to break down at the least opportune moments, e.g. the morning of my first final exam freshman year. Structurally speaking, academia might not be ready for me.
But as long as the medieval community judges me on my potential and my scholarship, I am hopeful that I will not need to meet a female wheelchair user with a tenured position to alleviate my fears. Perhaps, instead, I could see what my advisors see and become her.
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Overcoming Paralysis: How Dr. Murugu Helped Me Recover
My name is Choung, and I’m Vietnamese. On this day, May 23, 2024, I am writing to share my testimony as a sign of appreciation for what Dr. Murugu did for me.
It all started on November 15 last year, when I caught my ex-wife with another man in our home. I sent her out of the house and filed for divorce. A few months later, on January 11, 2024, I woke up paralyzed, unable to move the left side of my body. I quickly called my family, and they took me to the hospital where I stayed for a month and a half. Every test and scan came back clean; the doctors couldn’t determine the cause of my illness.
Friends advised me to seek help outside of medical medicine. We visited various spiritualists across Vietnam, but nothing worked.
Then, we came across Dr. Murugu’s page on Facebook (Revenge Death Spells, Voodoo Love Spells) and decided to give him a try. I explained my problem to him, and he told me that someone dear to me was responsible for my predicament. He promised to reverse it within seven days, and he did. The illness was sent back to the sender, who turned out to be my ex-wife’s mother, and she confessed and she said she was angry that I left her daughter and decided to cast a black magic spell on me to paralyze me.
Once again, thank you, Dr. Murugu, for what you have done for me. I am now well and sound again. You can contact him via WhatsApp or email.
Email: dr.makinidrmurugu@gmail.com
WhatsApp/Call: +90 534 069 3791
https://drmakinidrmurugu.blogspot.com
Website: https://www.drmuruguspellhome.com
Hi Dr. Murugu,
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your invaluable guidance and support during this challenging period. Without your assistance, I wouldn’t know where I’d be. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.
I’ve been in a relationship with a man for the past two and a half years. He’s German and was here for his internship. After the initial 6 months, he returned for me, and we began living together, envisioning a future together in the EU. However, jealousy arose last August, prompting me to seek help. I reached out to you, and you assured me with a 100% guarantee that I’d regain his affection after your spell.
Remarkably, the day after the spell, he called, apologized, and expressed his desire to reconcile. Now, we’re happily reunited. For anyone in need, please get in touch with Dr. Murugu at:
Email: dr.makinidrmurugu@gmail.com
Call/WhatsApp: +90 534 069 3791
Visit: https://www.facebook.com/drMurugu/
Blog: drmakinidrmurugu.blogspot.com
Hi Dr. Murugu,
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your invaluable guidance and support during this challenging period. Without your assistance, I wouldn’t know where I’d be. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.
I’ve been in a relationship with a man for the past two and a half years. He’s German and was here for his internship. After the initial 6 months, he returned for me, and we began living together, envisioning a future together in the EU. However, jealousy arose last August, prompting me to seek help. I reached out to you, and you assured me with a 100% guarantee that I’d regain his affection after your spell.
Remarkably, the day after the spell, he called, apologized, and expressed his desire to reconcile. Now, we’re happily reunited. For anyone in need, please get in touch with Dr. Murugu at:
Email: dr.makinidrmurugu@gmail.com
Call/WhatsApp: +90 534 069 3791
Visit: https://www.facebook.com/drMurugu/
Blog: drmakinidrmurugu.blogspot.com