OHIO lecturer to discuss new book documenting teamās triumph, disability rights
Josh Birnbaum, a lecturer in the School of Visual Communication, is hosting a lecture on his new book, āDream Shot: The Journey to a Wheelchair Basketball National Championship,ā at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, in Schoonover Center 145.
A lecturer in 51ĀŅĀ×ās School of Visual Communication, Josh Birnbaum will share a behind-the-scenes look at his recently released book documenting a wheelchair basketball teamās journey to a national championship and its contributions to the progress of disability rights.
Birnbaum is hosting a lecture on āDream Shot: The Journey to a Wheelchair Basketball National Championshipā at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, in Schoonover Center 145. The lecture will be followed by a book-signing and a reception in the School of Visual Communication Gallery, which is displaying some of the photos featured in Birnbaumās book now through Nov. 28. These events are free and open to the public.
āDream Shotā details the 2008 menās wheelchair basketball team at the University of Illinois and its successful drive toward winning a college national championship ā a drive that began in 1948 when the university created the first collegiate basketball team in the United States.
Birnbaum followed and visually documented the teamās coaches and players throughout their epic journey and juxtaposes the team membersā lives with a global social movement for equal opportunities and rights for people with disabilities. Among those who have praised Birnbaumās work is Jim Scherr, the executive director of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, who called āDream Shotā a āfantastic testament to the power, struggle and triumph of wheelchair basketball and the program, coaches and players at the University of Illinois.ā
David Guttenfelder, photographer for National Geographic, said, āBirnbaumās respectful and big-hearted honest photographs show us that on the court, and especially off the court during their everyday lives, this is a team and a community of champions.ā
A photographer and rocket scientist, Birnbaum is a lecturer in the Scripps College of Communicationās School of Visual Communication where he teaches courses on photography, photo editing, digital imaging and audio/video storytelling. He holds a bachelorās degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois and a masterās degree in photography from 51ĀŅĀ×.
āDream Shot: The Journey to a Wheelchair Basketball National Championshipā details the 2008 menās wheelchair basketball team at the University of Illinois and its successful drive toward winning a college national championship.