Akemi Nishida

Akemi Nishida serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, holding a joint appointment that bridges disability studies, critical race theory, and transnational feminist frameworks. Her work centers on dismantling systems of ableism, sanism, racism, and sexism through academic research and community activism.

She earned a Ph.D. in Critical Social-Personality Psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, establishing the foundation for her interdisciplinary approach to social justice.

Nishida's research investigates how state care programs and grassroots interdependent care collectives navigate disability, dependency, and desire. She merges affect theory with critical theories to expose systemic injustices while promoting cross-community solidarity. Her scholarship emphasizes lived experience and collective power, particularly through bed activism and disability justice movements that challenge institutionalized oppression.

Her publications reveal a trajectory toward embodied, activist scholarship—exemplified by the 2023 book "Just Care" and the 2018 chapter "Critical disability praxis"—which prioritize intersectional analysis of care systems over traditional academic boundaries. These works consistently frame disability not as individual deficit but as a site of communal resistance and transformative potential.

Her accolades include:

• American Association of University Women International Fellowship
• Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame induction (2020)
• Humanities Without Walls Seed Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (2020)

Nishida secures external funding through competitive fellowships like the UIC Institute for Race and Public Policy Faculty Fellowship while actively mentoring disability activists. Her community engagement extends beyond campus through leadership roles in Advance Your Leadership Power (Chicago) and consulting for the Transgender Law Center's Disability Project, demonstrating sustained commitment to translating academic work into tangible social change.

Though no formal lab structure is documented, her collaborative ethos manifests in partnerships with grassroots care collectives and national disability rights organizations, where academic research directly informs activist strategies for systemic transformation.