25th Discovery Day will be Virtual

Rebekah Taussig Presentation Anchors April 14 Academic Event at Benedictine College

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Rebekah Taussig - 2021 Discovery Day Speaker

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., will host its 25th Annual Discovery Day on Wednesday, April 14, but in a never-before-seen virtual format that will allow students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and anyone interested to see the vast array of academic presentations. Student projects can be seen from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and the keynote speaker, Rebekah Taussig, is set for 1:00 p.m. The link for the presentations will be announced as the event draws closer.

Each year, Benedictine College cancels its classes and meetings to allow for students and faculty to attend Discovery Day, a day of learning focused on student projects that have been researched outside of the classroom. More than 3000 students have participated in Benedictine’s Discovery Day since its inception in 1996. In that time, most faculty members and academic departments have taken an active role in sponsoring student projects.

This year’s keynote speaker, Taussig, is a Kansas City-area writer and teacher with doctoral degrees in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She has led workshops at Yale University, the University of Michigan, and Davidson College on disability representation, identity, and community. Her work appears in publications from TIME to Design*Sponge.

“I’ve spent most of my life immersed in the world of writing and reading – as a student, teacher, and human person – because I believe the words we use and the stories we tell matter,” Taussig says on her website. “I am interested in the powerful connection between the cultural narratives we tell and the world we live in, from physical spaces and economic opportunities to social roles and interpersonal relationships.”

Released by HarperOne in August 2020, her memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body provides a nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. She also runs the Instagram platform @sitting_pretty, where she crafts ‘mini-memoirs’ to contribute nuance to the collective narratives being told about disability. 

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is proud to have been named one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report as well as one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by Newman Guide and the best private college in Kansas by The Wall Street Journal. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. It has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

 

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