Hello, I'm Seon Shim
About me...
I am a first year PhD student at the University of British Columbia with a special interest in media anthropology, disability studies, and medical anthropology. I was born and raised in Korea, shaped by my grandparents’ memories of exile under Japanese colonization and war. For me, exile is tied to the search for a homeland—a place my family never fully regained amid rapid development and outside influence. As a neurodivergent woman, healing generational trauma meant navigating new forms of exile, crossing borders from Korea to the land of the Lenape and Mohican peoples during my master’s (New York University, 2025), and now to the land of the Musqueam people as a first-year PhD student.
These histories of displacement, and the responsibility of living and learning on these lands, guide my commitment to community-centered and restorative work. My goal is to help create conditions where people of different abilities, backgrounds, and identities can find a sense of belonging. Through documentary and collaborative media work, I strive to create spaces where diverse experiences are recognized, valued, and shared.
10 Principles of Disability Justice
source: Sins Invalid
1 / Intersectionality
“We do not live single issue lives” –Audre Lorde. Ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy, has rendered the vast majority of the world “invalid.”
2 / Leadership of Those Most Impacted
“We are led by those who most know these systems.” –Aurora Levins Morales
3 / Anti-Capitalist Politic
In an economy that sees land and humans as components of profit, we are anti-capitalist by the nature of having non-conforming body/minds.
4 / Commitment to Cross-Movement Organizing
Shifting how social justice movements understand disability and contextualize ableism, disability justice lends itself to politics of alliance.
5 / Recognizing Wholeness
People have inherent worth outside of commodity relations and capitalist notions of productivity. Each person is full of history and life experience.
6 / Sustainability
We pace ourselves, individually and collectively, to be sustained long term. Our embodied experiences guide us toward ongoing justice and liberation.
7 / Commitment to Cross-Disability Solidarity
We honor the insights and participation of all of our community members, knowing that isolation undermines collective liberation.
8 / Interdependence
We meet each others’ needs as we build toward liberation, knowing that state solutions inevitably extend into further control over lives.
9 / Collective Access
As brown, black and queer-bodied disabled people we bring flexibility and creative nuance that go beyond able-bodied/minded normativity, to be in community with each other.
10 / Collective Liberation
No body or mind can be left behind – only moving together can we accomplish the revolution we require.
