In a recent video from Innovative Educators, Tom Tobin gives a short overview of what we can learn from Star Wars about making accessible places where intergalactic beings and droids can easily get around and communicate with each other. He highlights the consistent use of ramps, wide doors, limited or no stairs, and translation devices. Other Star Wars features include personal mobility devices that look like furniture or speeders, droid medical, automotive, and air traffic technicians and AI-assisted companions, sensory-rich and sensory-adjustable environments, fully accessible government, educational, medical, and community spaces, and wearable personal navigation tools. While some of these enduring, universal design features were meant to help us imagine an exciting galactic future, the film team of the franchise’s first movie was comprised of people from across the ability spectrum who used their needs and knowledge to intentionally shape and show a more accessible, usable world where anyone could be a hero.
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Informal Mentorship in Action
When I began teaching as a tenure track, assistant professor, I quickly realized I needed guidance and support when it came to pursuing scholarship, deciding which committees to serve on, and teaching in a new context. At the same time, I also discovered that the faculty around me, across the hall and in departmental and university meetings were open and willing to answer my questions, suggest collaborations, and give me the scoop on which committees to serve on. Though I had an assigned mentor who also supported me, it was the informal listening, solution-seeking, and friendship that helped create a strong sense of belonging, a commitment to persistence, and a collegial environment that I had not anticipated. In addition to being a friendly presence, mentors typically have valuable institutional knowledge about expectations, resources, opportunities, rules, and procedures and can share them in a conversational and invitational way.
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