Reminder: Friday, August 04 is the deadline to submit your application to attend the third annual Disability Studies and Action Collaborative UnConference hosted by the WWU Institute for Critical Disability Studies. The call for UnConference participants and application can be found here (opens in new tab).
Search Results for: 2023
Fall UnConference happening Oct 21-22!
On October 21nd and 22rd, 2023, we are hosting our third annual Disability Studies and Action Collaborative UnConference! Similar to last year, this will be a two-day event hosted at Western Washington University, and it will be offered in a hybrid modality (both face-to-face and virtual participation options). Please visit our DSAC UnConference webpage to access the full event description and application form.
About the UnConference
Everyone who participates in the event will take part in two days of programming. On the first day, people will be put into working groups to discuss important issues related to disability, access, and action. This day will include workshops and discussions in small and large groups. On the second day, participants will give long or short presentations and have dialogs about scholarly, professional, and personal projects and experiences. Coaching will be available for those who want some extra support in preparing and giving their presentations.
All are welcome to apply for the UnConference, including college students, faculty, and staff; members of the nonprofit, private, and public sectors; educators; artists; and activists. We are particularly interested in welcoming participants who are disabled or members of other marginalized populations, including BIPOC, queer, or gender nonconforming people. The UnConference has a participation fee on a sliding scale from $0 to $250.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at icds.unconference@wwu2.onmicrosoft.com and icds@wwu.edu. We would also like to encourage you to send us the names of any organizations or individuals we should send this invitation to.
Applications are due August 04, 2023. Learn more and apply to join the 2023 UnConference here.
Archived 2022 DSAC Annual UnConference
This is an archived page for the UnConference that occurred on Saturday & Sunday, October 22 & 23, 2022.
Save the Date for Fall 2023!
Our Annual Fall UnConference will be happening on Saturday & Sunday, October 21 – 22, 2023
UnConference 2022
Disability Studies & Action Collaborative UnConferece
Saturday October 22 – Sunday October 23, 2022
Academic Instructional Center West
Western Washington University, Bellingham Campus
- UnConference 2022 Program
- This is the final version of our UnConference program. It includes times, physical locations, and descriptions for presentation sessions.
- Local Information and Guides
- This page includes parking information, maps of the building and campus, and links to public transit information
- Participant-only links
Event Information
Save the Date: Our Second DSAC UnConference is happening Saturday & Sunday, October 22 – 23, 2022
Find further materials for this year’s UnConference at:
- Call for Participants & UnConference Application form
- The deadline for the 2022 UnConference Application has passed. If you would like to be added to future event announcements, you can subscribe at the bottom of this page.
- Registration Information Form (Deadline: September 02, 2022)
- Participants: Please submit your final Registration Information using the link above by Friday, September 02, 2022. You will receive a password to view this page.
- UnConference Program
- This is the final version of our UnConference program. It includes times, physical locations, and descriptions for presentation sessions.
- *UnConference Participants Profiles
- *Tentative UnConference Program
- These pages are only visible to UnConference participants. Please see your emailed participant confirmation for the password to view his page.
- Local Information and Guides
- This page includes parking information, maps of the building and campus, and links to public transit information
- How you can support our events (Viking Funder)
The Western Washington University Institute for Critical Disability Studies is excited to to be hosting our second Disability Studies and Action Collaborative (DSAC) UnConference in October 2022 after a two-year hiatus.
This year, the event will span two days, and it will provide a venue for scholars, students, nonprofit workers, advocates, activists, artists, and other community members can gather to discuss issues of disability, access, and equity. Our main focus will be local to the needs, concerns, and opportunities of Bellingham, WA and the surrounding Pacific Northwest region.
This event is planned in the ethos of Universal Design. All materials and activities will be designed to accommodate all participants through audio interpreters, downloadable documents, and other accommodations participants request in the application form.
What is an UnConference?
An UnConference is a collaborative event where “experts” of various kinds (broadly defined) get together to learn from one another and solve problems. So, while traditional conferences usually involve experts on a stage giving pre-written presentations, UnConferences focus more on workshops and problem-solving sessions, where participants work together to understand complex problems and devise new solutions.
How is the DSAC UnConference structured?
The DSAC UnConference has aspects of both traditional conferences and UnConferences. Everyone who participates in the event will be assigned to a working group based on their interests and skills. Participants in these working groups will identify a particular disability-related question, problem, project, or idea, and they will work together throughout the first day of the UnConference to find a way to solve that problem or push that idea forward.
The second day of the event follows a more traditional conference format. Every participant will give a presentation ranging from 5 to 30 minutes on topics related to disability studies, disability arts, public advocacy, or other subjects relevant to issues of disability, access, and equity.
Visit the Call for Participation and Application page to find out more information about the conference or contact the organizers at icds.unconference@wwu2.onmicrosoft.com.
2023 UnConference Application
Newsletters and Reports
This page collects formal letters, updates, and reports from the Co-directors and Annual Showcase newsletter publications.
Institute for Critical Disability Studies DSAC Annual Showcase
Disability Studies and Action Collaborative 2023 Annual Showcase
Reports from Major Events and Consultations
Dr. Sami Schalk Consultation June 2023 – Brief Report and Takeaways
Reminder: Mark West Scholarship deadline
Reminder: Mark West Scholarship applications and letters of recommendation are due by 11:59 pm on Friday, June 02, 2023. Learn more and apply here.
ICDS tabling at WWU QueerCon
Stop by the WWU QueerCon general convention hall (Table 431) on Saturday, April 29, 2023 from 12-5p and say hi to ICDS co-director Andrew Lucchesi and learn more about the Institute for Critical Disability Studies and our new Minor. WWU Disability and Neurodiversity club will be tabling next to us as well!
WWU QueerCon is a student-organized LGBTQIA2S+ convention and conference celebrating queer and intersectional representation in art, comics, society, and media, held annually at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. This is their 7th year running! Learn more about WWU QueerCon here.
ICDS Scholar’s Week Virtual Keynote Presentation – Dr. Sami Schalk “Disability Justice and Accessible Teaching”
Happening from 5:00 – 6:00 pm Tuesday, May 16, 2023 on Zoom
Register for the Presentation on Zoom: https://wwu-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0lcuipqTwuH9JuQ__a6CmhrycpfD66QEzY
Dr. Sami Schalk Associate Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of works including Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction (2018) and Black Disability Politics (2022). She will be presenting virtually during Scholar’s Week as part of a collaborative event organized by the WWU Institute for Critical Disability Studies.
This event is co-sponsored by the following WWU departments and programs: English; Health and Human Development; Journalism; Philosophy; Anthropology; Sociology; Political Science; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and History.
Learn more about Dr. Sami Schalk at samischalk.com
You can also check out the rest of the Scholar’s Week schedule of departmental events here.
Questions or requesting accommodations? Email icds@wwu.edu
Celebrate Our New Minor in Disability Studies on Thursday, March 09
The Institute for Critical Disability Studies (ICDS) is celebrating our newly-approved minor with a Critical Disability Studies Minor Launch Party reception held on Thursday March 09 from 11 am – 1 pm! This will be a hybrid event happening in-person in CV 103 and on Zoom (ID: 944 1607 6204, passcode icds); all are welcome! Come and meet the growing ICDS community.
Download an iCal calendar event file here, which contains full event details and Zoom link. Even if you are not able to make any part of the event, virtually or in person, the Western community is invited to sign the virtual “Guest Book” with messages.
Tentative program:
- 11:00 am – coffee, refreshments, and mingling
- 11:15 am – cutting the cake!
- 11:30 am – introductory remarks: Brad Johnson (Provost)
- 11:45 am – co-directors recognition: Allison Giffen (hiring committee) and Tim Kowalczyk (interim advisory council)
- 12-12:30 pm – time for brief “Toasts” to the program: remarks from students & faculty
- 12:30-:50 pm – additional time for refreshments and conversation
Please contact icds@wwu.edu with accessibility needs or questions
About the in-person (CV 103) reception:
- Refreshments will be available until the reception’s close; allergen-friendly refreshments including vegan & gluten-free cake provided.
- Remarks from the Provost’s opening remarks, co-directors recognition, and “Toasts” will be broadcast on projector screen with closed captioning.
About the hybrid (Zoom) reception:
- The virtual reception room will be open from 11 am – 12:50 pm
- From 11:30 – 12:30 pm, we will be streaming the Provost’s opening remarks, co-directors recognition, and “Toasts”
- Join us at this Zoom link (ID: 944 1607 6204, passcode icds)
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.
- 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.
Note – Action item for Faculty & Staff ICDS Affiliates:
- If you are official ICDS-affiliated WWU Faculty or Staff, please check your entries in the ICDS “People” page and let us know via this form with any additions or changes we should make.
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.
Subscribe or unsubscribe from the WWU ICDS mailing list using this google form
Reminder: ICDS Fellows Program Application Deadline
The ICDS Fellows Program application is due at 11:59 pm on Monday, Jan 02, 2023. Read more about the Fellows Program here: https://wp.wwu.edu/disabilitycollaborative/fellows/