The Disability Studies Program involves a multi-campus, interdisciplinary group of faculty, students, staff, and community members who share an interest in challenging the traditional ways in which disability is constructed in society.
University of Washington undergraduate students have the opportunity to pursue the Disability Studies Minor and the Individualized Studies Major in Disability Studies.
UW is at the forefront of the development of Disability Studies as an academic discipline through the individual research and teaching of growing numbers of faculty across campuses and disciplines, increasing student interest in the subject area, and an expansion of traditional diversity efforts to include disability. The Disability Studies Program provides additional opportunities for both students and faculty to explore the field.
Contact information
- Website: https://disabilitystudies.washington.edu
- Jamie Barnhorst, Academic Advisor, c21 [at] uw [dot] edu
- José Alaniz, Director, jos23 [at] uw [dot] edu
- Joanne Woiak, Assistant Director, jwoiak [at] uw [dot] edu
FACULTY
- JOSÉ ALANIZ
Associate Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Department of Comparative Literature (Adjunct) - CLARA BERRIDGE
Assistant Professor, School of Social Work - SHERRIE BROWN
Research Professor, College of Education; Associate Director, UCEDD - LANCE A. FORSHAY
Lecturer and Program Coordinator, ASL and Deaf Studies - SARA GOERING
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy; Program on Values in Society - MARK HARNISS
Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Medicine - KURT L. JOHNSON
Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; Director, Center for Technology and Disability Studies - RICHARD LADNER
Professor Emeritus, Computer Science and Engineering - DENNIS LANG
Affiliate Faculty, Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies - STEPHEN MEYERS
Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Societies and Justice; Jackson School Of International Studies - SUSHIL OSWAL
Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Tacoma - MAUREEN "MO" WEST
Lecturer, School of Nursing and Health Studies, UW Bothell - KRISTI WINTER
Lecturer, American Sign Language - JOANNE WOIAK
Lecturer, Disability Studies Program; Department of Bioethics and Humanities (Adjunct)
CURRENT CLASS OFFERINGS
University of Washington undergraduate students have the opportunity to pursue the Disability Studies Minor and the Individualized Studies Major in Disability Studies. All courses are on Seattle campus unless otherwise noted.
Spring 2018 Courses:
- DIS ST/LSJ/CHID 230 Introduction to Disability Studies, Kristen L. Johnson, T/Th 10:30-12:20
- DIS ST/LSJ/CHID 332 Disability and Society: Murderball, Savants, and Crip Art: Disability in Popular Culture, Heather D. Evans, T/Th 10:30-12:20
- DIS ST/LSJ/CHID 430 Topics in Disability Studies: Disability Studies, Feminist Theory, and Representation, Ronnie Thibault, M/W 10:30-12:20
- DIS ST 435 Advanced Seminar in Disability Studies, Sharan Brown, M/W 12:30-2:20
PUBLIC EVENTS
Spring Quarter Brown Bag Seminars: Many of these presenters are recipients of 2017 Harlan Hahn Research Grants awarded by UW Disability Studies. All talks take place on Friday afternoons, 12pm-1pm, in Mary Gates Hall 024. Many thanks to our colleagues at the D Center (Disability and Deaf Cultural Center) for sharing their space and volunteering to help us organize these talks. Please note that the D Center is a scent free/mobility aid accessible space. Scent free soap/hand sanitizer will be provided. Bathrooms will be gender neutral for the events. We will have ASL interpretation and CART captioning available at the events.
- March 30, Heather Feldner
- April 13, Ann Luetzow
- April 20, Sushil Oswal
- May 4, Mark Harniss
- May 11, John Porter
- May 25, Annuska Zolyomi
Inclusion through Entrepreneurship
Sarah Parker Harris and Rob Gould
Tuesday, April 10th, 2018, 10:00-11:30 am
Allen Library Auditorium, UW Seattle
Abstract: The recent reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and the subsequent advancement of Employment First policy has reignited discussion around disability employment, particularly with regards to the potential for entrepreneurship to challenge the charity and rehabilitation models that pervade disability employment.
While self-employment among people with disabilities has been studied previously, entrepreneurship is qualitatively distinct both theoretically and in practice. Believed to foster economic growth and attitudinal change, entrepreneurship has been an essential part of the economy and historically has been used to help disadvantaged populations enter the labor market. Entrepreneurs with disabilities represent a source of innovation and productivity and, if offered the appropriate resources, entrepreneurship is both an employment strategy and an antipoverty strategy that can lead to economic self-sufficiency and empowerment.
This presentation reports on current employment trends and policies in the United States, and presents results from an interdisciplinary research project that uniquely bridges the fields of disability studies and entrepreneurial studies.>
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu, preferably at least 10 days in advance of the event. ASL and CART have been requested.
Speakers’ bios:
Sarah Parker Harris, Ph.D, is an associate professor and the director of graduate and undergraduate studies in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has published and presented widely in areas of disability policy and law, entrepreneurship and disability, welfare-to-work, and international human rights.
Robert Gould, Ph.D., is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development and is the Director of Research for the Great Lakes ADA Center. His interests include both domestic and international social policy and evaluation, employment and vocational rehabilitation, knowledge translation, and issues of rights and social justice as