Allison Weiner Heinemann

Allison Weiner Heinemann is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Writing at Cornell University’s ILR School. She specializes in disability law, intersectional disability studies, and writing pedagogy. Her roles include advising the Perspectives: Cornell Undergraduate Journal of Disability Studies and the Disability Advocates Union (DAU). She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Yale University and an A.B. summa cum laude from Bryn Mawr College.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, Yale University
• A.B., Summa Cum Laude, Bryn Mawr College

Her research emphasizes linguistic precision in legal and policy contexts, and she integrates Universal Design principles into teaching. She has authored a chapter in Sex, Identity, Aesthetics: The Work of Tobin Siebers and Disability Studies (2021).

Awards:

• 7-time recipient of Merrill Presidential Scholar recognition
• Stephen H. Weiss Teaching Award (Cornell’s highest undergraduate teaching honor)
• MacIntyre Award for Exemplary Teaching

Her advising focuses on close student-mentor dialogue and process-oriented scholarship. She serves on Tompkins County’s Developmental Disabilities Subcommittee.