A letter from the ICDS co-directors

December 30, 2022

To the Disability Studies & Action Collaborative Community:

As 2022 draws to a close, we wanted to first take a moment to thank you for your part in our community: whether as student, alumni, UnConference participant, affiliated faculty, WWU staff, professional or corporate affiliate, community member near and far, and including those of us who have needed to step away from Western and/or ICDS work for various reasons.  You have our deep appreciation and hope for a safe, warm, and restorative holiday season.

The remainder of this message is intended to summarize things to remember and celebrate, as well as things to look forward to as we get 2023 rolling.

2022 Milestones and Celebrations

Several of our exciting milestones and highlights from this year:

• Official launch of the WWU Institute for Critical Disability Studies
  • No longer just a pipe dream from the very first UnConference in 2019, the Disability Studies Steering Committee continued work in earnest on events and programming, course development, and importantly, proposing the Institute through multiple rounds of listening sessions, pre-proposal, and finally proposal.  The ICDS was officially launched in the Spring Quarter of 2022 as an Institute housed under Academic Affairs.  With the co-director searches concluding in Fall 2022, Andrew and GIM (previously interim co-directors) will begin their official appointments in Winter Quarter 2023.
• Official launch of the academic program in Disability Studies
  • The new DISA course prefix was added to the WWU Course Catalog, and approved to be used beginning this 2022-23 academic year.
• Proposals for a new minor and new core courses in Critical Disability Studies submitted Dec 2022!
  • An extra thank you to the faculty and students contributing to the DS Minor Task Force in the final push to prepare materials for the minor and help us get everything submitted before the quarter’s end!
  • Learn more about the new minor here.
• Successful return of the DSAC UnConference
  • After a couple years of hiatus, we transitioned the Disability Studies and Action Collaborative Fall 2022 UnConference from a one-day and fully in-person event to a hybrid in-person and remote event covering two days of workshops, panels, and talks.  Participants were primarily local to the Pacific Northwest, but we had involvement from across the U.S. and Canada.
• Students recognized through a new ICDS scholarship
  • The inaugural Mark West Scholarship was established this year and awarded to our first two recipients: Graduate student Pheonix Booth and undergraduate student Hillary Banks.
• Students supported and employed through the ICDS
  • We are incredibly grateful to our first Graduate TAs (GTAs), who have been involved at the ICDS in many projects including: UnConference organizing and student staff mentorship, Student Advisory Council creation, and feedback in committees and ad-hoc task forces.
  • We are also thankful for the work of 11 additional student employees who staffed and moderated events at the Fall 2022 UnConference and helped the technical logistics of our hybrid conference to run smoothly.

2023 Upcoming Winter Quarter Highlights

Stay tuned for more exciting news and updates coming out at the beginning of this year:

• Winter 2023: News on DS Minor and new courses proposed in Fall 2022
  • We are looking forward to sharing the status of our new courses and new Minor in Critical Disability Studies later this quarter.
• January 2023: ICDS Fellows will begin their year-long Fellowship
  • Beginning this Winter and culminating in presentations at the Fall 2023 UnConference in October, our very first ICDS Fellows cohort will begin planning and implementation of projects centered around disability scholarship and advocacy.
    • We are still accepting applications for the 2023 cohort! If you would like to be considered for an ICDS Fellowship or are interested in becoming a Project Mentor, read more about the program here.  Fellows application deadline is 11:59 pm on Monday, January 02, 2023.

Early in January, we’ll be sending out an email with meeting agenda and scheduling for our next quarterly Disability Studies and Action Collaborative (Disability Studies Steering Committee) general meeting, so we’ll get to catch up with you more at that time! 

We hope you have a good remainder of your Winter intersession and a Happy New Year!

With gratitude,

-ICDS co-directors
GIM (he/they) & Andrew (he/him)
icds@wwu.edu

P.S. You can make a year-end tax-deductible donation to the WWU ICDS here.

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