The faculty behind the Disability Studies Initiative have a clearer idea of their goals following the second annual Disability Studies Forum at the University of Oregon on Oct. 30.
The forum, which featured Emory University’s Rosemarie Garland-Thomson as a keynote speaker, facilitated discussion about disability studies as a part of the Disability Studies Initiative.
“Our goals are, have been and continue to be to build awareness on campus around disability studies and building a disability studies degree program on campus,” said Heidi von Ravensberg, initiative co-coordinator of the DSI.
Currently, there is a disability studies option within the special education minor of the College of Education, directed by co-coordinator Deborah Olson, but a disability studies minor has yet to be formed.
The formation of the minor would require a sufficient number of courses that offer disability studies content. One favorable option is to make the program more cross-disciplinary.
“So, a student would be able to take a class in architecture, law, education, English, history and be able to get an understanding of disability studies as it intersects with different disciplines,” von Ravensberg said.
According to Elizabeth Wheeler, UO associate professor of English, advisor of the initiative and forum organizer, the initiative does not stop there. Eventually Wheeler would like to see a building dedicated to disability studies, containing an academic department and a research institute. Wheeler also emphasized the importance of a space dedicated to the disability community on campus.
“We have the Multicultural Center, we have the ASUO Women’s Center, we have the Mills International Center and we need something analogous for the disability community,” Wheeler said. According to Wheeler, the AccessABILITY Student Union, the disability student unioin, could use a lot more support as well.
“I think it is really important to not just think about the academic curriculum, but think about the disability community and about making lives easier for both graduate students and undergraduates with disabilities,” Wheeler said.
Hilary Gerdes, senior director of the Accessible Education Center, serves on the advisory committee of the initiative as well.
The Accessible Education Center offers many different services to disabled students. For example, the center offers academic accommodations such as sign language interpretation, additional time on exams in distraction-reduced environments and textbooks in alternate formats.
The center works very closely with the University Counseling and Testing Center as well as the Teaching and Learning Center.
“I think it’s always rewarding to feel like you’ve helped facilitate a student’s empowerment to get what they need to get their education,” Gerdes said.
In order to meet its goals, the DSI needs faculty development as well as fundraising, according to Wheeler. Von Ravensberg noted that in pursuing their goal to establish a disability studies degree program at UO, the DSI urges UO administrators to consider disability studies as an opportunity to intersect programming across disciplines.
A student who attended the forum finds that the working in Disability Studies is rewarding “because it makes me feel as though I deserve to be in the world.”
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