Ron Buliung

Ron Buliung is a University of Toronto Distinguished Professor in the Geographies of Disability and Ableism. He holds a Ph.D. (2004) in Urban Geography from McMaster University. He is a faculty member in the Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment at UTM. He holds graduate faculty appointments at the University of Toronto in the Department of Geography and Planning, and in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. Ron has dedicated his career to studying the experiences of children and youth in cities. His early work focused on the journey to school, and how school travel connects with and impacts childhood health. During the past decade, he re-focused his research program toward the various ways in which disability and ableism are produced by and embedded within the institutions that govern and make the places within cities where we live, work, play, and learn. His interest in disability scholarship and the problem of ableism is motivated by family experiences with disabling institutions and environments. Recent published works have focused on access to education, disability and school transport, disability and climate change, and food insecurity for disabled persons. Professor Buliung teaches the graduate seminar, “Disability, Ableism and Place” in the Graduate Program in Geography and Planning.