Dr. Mona Minkara is a blind scientist, an adventurer, and a storyteller. She is known for
her passion, dedication, and commitment to the idea that “Vision is More than Sight”, which
has and continues to permeate all her professional and personal projects. Dr. Minkara lost
her vision at a young age and, through perseverance and personal ambition, she is now not
only an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Northeastern but also the creative mind
behind her one-of-a-kind YouTube travel show Planes, Trains, and Canes (PTC).
As a visionary and inventive creator, Dr. Minkara perceived that PTC would be a fantastic
platform to introduce her audience to her interest in travel, different cultural
experiences, public transportation as well as a perfect platform to inspire individuals to
reflect about their own society’s systems. Through PTC, Dr. Minkara aims to bring light to
society’s regulations and structures and how they may carry hidden assumptions about
individuals with disabilities.
In this case, Dr.Minkara’s PTC aims to open our eyes to ways that society’s systems,
including public transportation systems, can impact the empowerment (or disempowerment) and
inclusion of individuals with disabilities, by either facilitating or preventing these
individuals from freely experiencing solo travel in diverse communities around the globe.
If you would like to know more about Dr.Minkara’s work, projects, and achievements, check
out her website at
www.monaminkara.com.