Disability Studies and Action Collaborative

Disability Culture, Scholarship, and Community

2021 Listening Sessions – Disability Studies Institute Formation

2021 Listening Sessions – Disability Studies Institute Formation

Disability Studies Institute at Western: Listening Sessions

From February 23 to March 4th, the Disability Studies Steering Committee is holding virtual “listening sessions” with Western Community Members. These sessions are sponsored by students, faculty, and staff working on issues related to disability and access at Western, and now we are currently forming an Institute on Disability Studies.

Read more on our process here: https://wp.wwu.edu/disabilitycollaborative/proposing-the-disability-studies-institute/

 

Topics for discussion will include:

  • Establishing a new cross-department institute in Disability Studies
    • Feedback on the pre-proposal document that was approved by the Provost’s Office
    • Mission and focus of an institute
    • Leadership structure
  • Additional topics for discussion can also include:
    • Building a new interdisciplinary minor in Disability Studies
    • Creating new courses across the majors that address issues of disability culture, access, and ableism
    • Addressing issues of ableism and unfair treatment of students and faculty with disabilities
    • Building networks between Western and the surrounding community on issues of disability

 

We are holding listening sessions for both students and faculty at these:

 

If you cannot make these listening sessions, or if you would like to also provide feedback in another way, you are invited to respond to this survey, which will be open during the months of February and March 2021:
https://wwu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_09xQCMZl8PNK50O?Source=wppost

 

Image gives the impression of a colorful board game path made steps in how the Disability Studies Institute is forming. We started with discussions and brainstorming years ago, followed by the Disability Studies and Action Collaborative organizing an UnConference in Fall of 2019. Shortly thereafter, the Disability Studies Steering Committee was formed, and began listening sessions in Winter Quarter of 2020 to gather ideas and concerns from WWU community members to draft a Disability Studies Institute pre-proposal document. In Summer 2020, the pre-proposal was submitted to the Provost's office, and was reviewed favorably, inviting us to submit a full institute proposal. We are here! Now, in Winter quarter 2021, we'll begin a second set of Listening Sessions and collecting surveys to solicit feedback from the WWU communty. Our goal is to refine the ideas, valus, and priorities that matter to us as a community. In the future, we plan to draft the full proposal from our listening sessions, survey feedback, and steering committee members, solicit additional community feedback, and finally submit the revised full proposal in Summer of 2021.

We are here! En route to the formation of a Disability Studies Institute at Western, we are soliciting feedback from the Western community via a second round of Listening Sessions and a survey. There are still more steps ahead of us, but we are excited to share this journey with you!

For more information, please contact disabilitystudies.wwu@gmail.com

 

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