In Conversation with Alex Heron

To mark York Disability Week, join YSJ alumna and photographer Alex Heron for a conversation about her intensely personal photography project, ‘Breadth: Spanning the Spectrum’, which aims to challenge preconceptions of people living with autism. In conversation with Professor Esther McIntosh (York St John University), Alex will explore what it means to be autistic and how sharing personal stories helps to challenge stigma. With BSL interpreter.

About Alex Heron

YSJ alumna Alex Heron is an autistic, documentary-style analogue photographer. After completing her BA in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, followed by an MA in Visual Communication, Alex began her photography project entitled ‘Breadth: Spanning the Spectrum’. The project, taken exclusively on medium format film, aims to tell the stories and celebrate the lives of autistic people from all walks of life, in a bid to dismantle some of the perceived limitations and pervasive stereotypes surrounding what it means to be autistic. Since the commencement of her project in January 2021, Alex has had her work published by Vogue Italia five times, appeared on BBC radio, and most recently, presented her project, alongside her own story at The Photography and Video show, hosted at the NEC.

About Professor Esther McIntosh

Esther McIntosh holds a BD (Hons) and PhD from the University of Aberdeen. She held a lectureship in Religion, Gender and Ethics at the University of Leeds until 2008, before joining York St John University. Her work is interdisciplinary, predominantly in the fields of feminist theology and ethics, and underpinned by a concern for gender justice. Her publications include John Macmurray’s Religious Philosophy: What it Means to be a Person and ‘Public Theology, Populism and Sexism: The Hidden Crisis’. She is currently in the final stages of a two-year project exploring chaplaincy support for trans and non-binary staff and students at Anglican foundation universities, funded by the Church Universities Fund and York St John University.

Keeping you Safe on Campus

Your comfort and safety is our highest priority and we have put a number of measures in place so that everyone has an experience that is safe, secure and enjoyable.

Please remain considerate of others and follow the guidelines below whilst on our campus

• Scan the NHS track and trace QR code displayed at the entrances to our buildings.
• Use the hand sanitising stations and regularly wash your hands.
• Face coverings are strongly encouraged indoors and in crowded areas.
• Consider taking a lateral flow Covid test the day before accessing our campus, even if you have had both Covid-19 vaccines. Tests are free and available online and from local pharmacies.

Events Access & Inclusivity

At York St John University we are committed to making our events as welcoming and inclusive for as many people as possible.

If you are planning to attend one of our events and have specific access requirements, please contact us by e: events@yorksj.ac.uk or t: 01904 876654 and we will make every effort to accommodate you.

If you need a suitable seat reserved for you (and companions), please let us know, preferably at least one week before the event. Sign language interpreters and real-time captioning may be requested in advance. Please contact us as soon as possible (ideally at least 3 weeks before the date of the event) if you require either BSL interpretation or captioning. We will try our best but cannot guarantee provision.

Privacy Policy

York St John University will use the data you submit in Eventbrite for the purposes of administering this event. York St John University utilises third party software for data storage, tracking and analysis activity but your details will not be used by any of these third parties in order to contact you Any data you share with us will be used to help us improve your event experience and for event tracking and analysis activity within the University.

We will only send you important information and reminders related to the event you have booked unless you tell us otherwise. During the booking process, if you opt in to receive emails about the latest events hosted and supported by York St John University, you consent to York St John University contacting you with relevant information.

If you no longer wish to hear from us you can opt out at any time by changing your contact preferences via the link in emails you receive from us or by emailing events@yorksj.ac.uk.