Leni Van Goidsenhoven is an Assistant Professor of Critical Disability Studies at Literary and Cultural Analysis.
Her research focuses on disability, illness, neurodiversity, inclusive learning environments, and representations of non-normative bodyminds in the arts and literature.
She previously worked on the politics illness and disability narratives and on reconceptualising ‘voice’, particularly in relation to people labelled as minimally verbal. Her current work centres on crip theory, Mad and Critical Disability Studies, with a specific focus on accessibility aesthetics, disability heritage, and disability activism.

She is currently developing research on neurodiversity in the arts and crip technoscience. Together with Slava Greenberg and Wigbertson Julian Isenia, she collaborates on the project Addressing Access Fatigue: Archival Practices through a Critical Disability Lens. She also collaborates with the arts collective Shy*Play (Aion Arribas and antje nestel) on approaching neurodiversity not as a process of explanation, but as a relational practice in difference.

Leni teaches, among others, Cripping Aesthetics: Critical Disability Studies, Artistic Representations and Practices (MA, rMA), Disability, Race and Gender: Bodies in Public (BA), Concepts for Reading Contemporary Cultures (BA), Current Debates in Cultural Analysis (BA), Concepts for Cultural Analysis (rMA).

Previously, Leni was a guest curator for the city theatre NTGent (2022–2023), where she curated a performance programme on disability. She worked closely with artists such as Sonja Jokiniemi, Iris Bouche, and Karel Verhoeven on several projects and residencies. She co-founded both the Autism Ethics Network (funded by FWO) and the Neurodivergent Humanities Network (funded by NNMHR). As a postdoctoral researcher, she was affiliated with the Philosophy Department at the University of Antwerp, where she contributed to Kristien Hens’ interdisciplinary ERC project NeuroEpigenEthics. She was also a guest professor in Orthopedagogy at Ghent University (2023–2025), where she collaborated closely with clinical disciplines, reflecting her sustained commitment to interdisciplinary research across the humanities, artistic and clinical fields. She completed her PhD on autism and self-representation (FWO) at the Cultural Studies Department of KU Leuven (supervised by Anneleen Masschelein). She has taught Literary Studies, Bioethics, Cultural Studies, and Illness and Disability Narratives. She also worked as a curator for Museum Dr. Guislain and collaborated with Jan Hoet.

In 2021 her exhibition OnGehoord, scientific work and book on voice (OnGehoord) were awarded the Annual Award for Scientific Communication from the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts

Leni published in international journals such as Frontiers of Psychiatry, Choreographic Practices, Life Writing, Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research and Qualitative Inquiry. She is the author of the book Autisme in veelvoud (Garant, 2020) and OnGehoord (Epo, 2021), and the ‘What Are You Reading’ editor for DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies.

PhD Supervision: 
Co-supervisor (with dr. Josje Verhaegen and dr. Titia Benders):
NWO-funded PhD project, Harry Reynolds, The Acquisition of Topic in Autistic and Typically Developing (TD) Dutch-Speaking Children and Adolescents (ASCA), University of Amsterdam (2023–2027)

Co-supervisor (with dr. Kristof Vaes):
FWO-funded PhD project, Kaat Kenis, Beyond the Binary: An Intersectional Approach towards More Systemic Inclusive Design, University of Antwerp (2024–2027)

Co-supervisor (with Prof. dr. Katrien Schaubroeck):
Interdisciplinary FWO-funded PhD project, Nele Buyst, BACTOHEALING, University of Antwerp & Ghent University (2022–2026)

Co-supervisor (with Prof. dr. Kristien Hens):
BOF-funded PhD project, Lisanne Meinen, Neurodiversity in Video Games, University of Antwerp (2020–2024) — completed

Member of the PhD Supervisory Committee
FWO-funded PhD in the Arts, LUCA School of Arts, Anna Püschel, Autistic Women and Stimming (2023–2027)

Member of the PhD Supervisory Committee
PhD in the Arts, LUCA School of Arts, Mariske Broeckmeyer, Unvoicing Migraine: A Study of the Failing Voice (2018–2022) — completed

Member of the PhD Supervisory Committee and Jury
PhD in the Arts, LUCA School of Arts, Eva Cardon, Never Alone Again: Searching for an Image/Language for Early Motherhood (2015–2021) — completed