Enna SeyrathU?
என்ன செய்ரது?
A rhetorical question meaning what to do, enna seyrathu straddles the line between resigned pragmatism (there is nothing to do) and hope (what is there to do). Enna seyrathu was my refrain when I became chronically ill. When my appendix ruptured and no one believed me for nine months. When I’m forced to become my own healthcare administrator. Whenever I find myself engaging in exploitatively high amounts of university service and emotional labor, especially compared to—or because of—white colleagues.
Enna seyrathu is the thing you say when you haven’t quite figured out what to say, an acceptance whose next step is refusal and action. The resources linked below reflect that next step.
Some are things I wanted to make. Some are things I had to. Some of them made me sicker. None of them figure into the standard calculus for tenure and promotion.
To minimize the impacts experienced by others—and as part of my overall commitment to social justice and knowledge transparency—I’ve made several of them available here under a CC-BY-SA-NC license.
You can download them for free, or send a tip to show your appreciation!
Tip Jar!
The below resources are freely available, but tips are always appreciated! All contributions go toward my rising healthcare costs. Thank you for supporting me and my work!
Pink sign reading “CCCC Convention is accessible!” in white text, covered in Post-It Notes claiming otherwise due to a lack of microphone use, captioners, accessible seating, or having never been contacted about their access needs. Photo credit: © 2019 V. Manivannan
"Steal" These Things!
In the spirit of Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book!, here are some of the toolkits, guides, templates, and other resources I’ve created for instructional, medical, and activist purposes, to minimize impacts to my bodymind.
Coming soon! – Accommodations Package, TT, Job Market, Emails, Transitions
Position Statement
Template
Medical Binder
Position Statement
Equitable Labor Statement
Templates
Emails & Agendas
Info Res
At Home Aids
Templates
Tenure Dossier
Templates
Accommodation Package
Templates
Job Market Materials
Consulting Work
Mentoring people is a critical part of my praxis, whether it’s helping graduate students or junior scholars with research, advising academic event planners and academics on inclusive collaboration via digital platforms, or working with scholars on digital interactive narrative or the craft of writing. While I’m not professionally trained in medicine, I’ve been non-apparently chronically ill for 20 years—through graduate school and adjunct, non-tenure-track full-time, and tenure-track faculty positions. I especially love helping BIPOC/diasporic disabled scholars figure out how to strategically navigate biomedical and academic institutions, based on their personal needs and professional desires.
If you’d like to chat with me, please reach out to me using the form below!
Ready to chat?
Vyshali Manivannan
Assistant Professor
English, Writing, & Cultural Studies
Pace University – Pleasantville
vmanivannan [at] pace [dot] edu
I’m available for small-group workshops and individual coaching regarding implementing and maintaining a culture of access, care, and accountability in spaces in and out of academia, and for helping people strategically navigate institutional processes—like going through a Ph.D. while disabled, obtaining accommodations, identifying effective event modalities and ways of implementing them, figuring out health care, and/or improving their medical literacies.
I’m always happy to share my experience and strategies. If you’d like to work together, please contact me using this form!