Announcing ADVANCED REHABILITATION RESEARCH AND DISABILITY POLICY TRAINING for 2010-2012
11/13/2009
This is a unique opportunity that provides advanced training in rehabilitation and disability policy research, with a particular focus on participation of people with disabilities in their communities. This individualized training program offers to accommodate the needs of postdoctoral researchers and others with advanced degrees. Researchers and others who hold leadership positions in rehabilitation, disability studies, and related fields may apply. Trainees must be willing to locate to Syracuse, New York, and will receive a salary for the academic year ($34,000), summer stipend, travel allowance, up to 12 credits of tuition, and full Syracuse University benefits. Persons with disabilities and/or other underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. We are seeking candidates who will commit to two-year (for AY 2010-2012) traineeships. We will also consider doctoral candidates (ABD status) who will complete their doctoral dissertation by December 2010 and whose research interests are consistent with the focus of the ARRT. Please note that the second year of funding will depend on successful completion of the dissertation project in year one of project participation.
Training activities can include:
- advanced coursework
- project seminars
- participation in ongoing research and policy projects
- independent writing and research
Trainees can select advanced training in one of two strands: rehabilitation research and disability policy research. Each strand includes 9-15 credits of optional coursework in advanced rehabilitation research methods or disability policy research (with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Disability Studies), practica in the editorial review process and in research ethics, and an internship at a rehabilitation or disability policy research project.
Requirements for this training include:
- Doctorate or other advanced degree; other advanced rehabilitation and disability leaders may also apply. Will also consider doctoral candidates who will complete their dissertation by December 2010.
- Must relocate to Syracuse, New York for duration of training
- Evidence of appropriate achievement and potential for future achievement
For full consideration, candidates must complete an online management application at www.sujobopps.com and include a letter addressing selection criteria as well as applicant goals and interests, current vita, sample publications or other written work, two letters of reference, and graduate transcript, if applicable, by February 1, 2010.
For additional information, please contact:
James Bellini, Ph.D., Project Co-Director
c/o Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies
805 South Crouse Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2280
315-443-9655 FAX 315-443-4338
Jlbellin@syr.edu
Special course opportunity for Spring 2010
11/9/2009
Special course opportunity for Spring 2010
SOC 500: Research and Social Change: Campaign for Access
Focus on Health Care and Communication Access for Deaf Patients
Faculty:
Prof. Marjorie DeVault, Dept. of Sociology (Instructor of record)
Prof. Michael Schwartz, College of Law
Prof. Rebecca Garden, Upstate Medical University
This seminar will introduce the principles of social action research and involve students in an ongoing “Campaign for Access,” designed as a research, outreach, and action project involving social scientists, lawyers and law students, medical educators, and local health-care personnel. We will also learn more about the social model of disability and about deafness and Deaf culture.
Disability rights activists have made substantial progress in securing the rights of citizens with disabilities, and the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, provides a foundation for future efforts; among other provisions, it guarantees communication access for deaf people who seek medical care. Research on deaf people’s experiences with health care, however, makes clear that significant problems remain, especially for individuals with relatively little education, few economic resources, or limited English language skills. Our “Campaign for Access” is designed to explore the systemic barriers to full access, and to promote collaboration with Deaf community advocates and health-care workers in efforts to improve the quality of health care for deaf people in our region.
We have a limited number of spaces in the course, and we hope to include participants who are:
--Interested in learning about Deaf lives and culture, or have some experience in Deaf cultures.
OR
--Interested in Disability Studies
OR
--Aspiring to become a professional who works for social change.
OR
--Have some knowledge or/experience in health-care systems.
Research skills and knowledge of American Sign Language would be a plus, but are not required.
To apply for admission to the course, or if you have questions, please email Marj DeVault (
mdevault@syr.edu). You may also contact Michael Schwartz (
maschw01@law.syr.edu) or Rebecca Garden (
gardenr@upstate.edu) for more information.
Syracuse University, U.S. Rep. Maffei announce creation of Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education
10/22/2009
On Capitol Hill Thursday, Syracuse University and U.S. Rep. Daniel Maffei announced the creation of the Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, which is made possible by a gift from Capt. Robert P. Taishoff and his wife, Laurie Bean Taishoff, on behalf of the Taishoff Family Foundation. The center is intended to become the nation’s largest repository of research, study and practice in the field of inclusive higher education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
To accomplish its goal, the center will build upon current programs in place for students with intellectual disabilities at Syracuse University’s School of Education. It will also conduct research and demonstration projects related to inclusive education, working with University partners and those across the country to create best practices in this field of study.
The center is headed by Executive Director Wendy S. Harbour, recipient of the Lawrence B. Taishoff Endowed Professorship. The institute also convenes an advisory board of nationally recognized leaders in the study of inclusive higher education, which includes two students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“With its history of commitment to inclusion, Syracuse University is uniquely positioned to become a leader in the field of inclusive higher education,” says Harbour. “Recent changes in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 will likely increase the number of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in higher education, and the Taishoff Center is prepared to address emerging issues related to this population while fostering broader dialogue and research about disability and diversity in postsecondary education.”
The center, named after Capt. Taishoff’s father, Lawrence, is in honor of the benefactors’ daughter, Jacqueline, who has Down syndrome.
“It is our hope that the center will bring people together from across the country to develop a set of standards for inclusive postsecondary education programs,” says Capt. Taishoff.
“It was not long ago that individuals with intellectual disabilities were routinely institutionalized,” Taishoff says. “Once we created opportunities for them, society quickly learned that it was institutionalizing poets, artists, musicians and otherwise productive members of society. To me, this initiative will be the next step toward unlocking the still-hidden potential of this group of people.”
In addition to its classroom work and research focus, the Taishoff Center will provide technical assistance to students, educators, administrators, policymakers and parents interested in helping to make higher education more inclusive. The center will also offer public education and advocacy resources for legislation that supports inclusive education, including:
- postsecondary transition planning for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities;
- universally designed curricula and pedagogical strategies to enhance inclusion of all learners, with and without disabilities; and
- access to financial aid and other federal postsecondary programs for all students with disabilities.
Syracuse University currently operates two inclusive education programs that will work in tandem with the research and resources from the Taishoff Center:
- OnCampus—a collaboration between SU and the Syracuse City School District in which students up to age 21 work on academic and social goals from their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) within the context of the University campus and nondisabled peers; and
- Access—a partnership between the University and a publicly funded adult service agency that provides educational support to students over the age of 21 in auditing college courses across disciplines.
For more information about the Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University, see Lawrence B. Taishoff Center Q&A
and visit http://www.inclusioninstitutes.org/.
Center signs onto letter protesting use of restraints and aversives
10/19/2009
On September 30, a coalition of disability organizations sent a letter to
government agencies and human rights organizations calling for an end to
the use of electric shock, other painful and aversive procedures, seclusion,
and unnecessary restraint. The letter is signed by 28 disability
organizations, including the Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability, that are concerned with the humane treatment of people with disabilities.
The
letter and
addendum were sent to: the Office of Disability, Department of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education; the Attorney
General of the United States; the House Committee on Education & Labor; Amnesty International; Physicians for Human Rights; and Human Rights Watch.
Kanter receives The Lawyer Assistance Trust's 2009 Law School Faculty Award
10/14/2009
Professor Arlene Kanter, Co-Director of the SU Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies has been awarded the
The Lawyer Assitance Trust's 2009 Law School Faculty Award in recognition of her work at the SU College of Law "to improve the lives of law students and lawyers" and "enhance the practice of law and for significant contributions to the an understanding of the issues of alcohol/substance abuse or mental health issues in law school or the legal profession."
Since Professor Kanter joined the law faculty in 1988, she has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of Clinical Legal Education, and Director of the Externship Program. She is currently the director of the College of Law's Disability Law and Policy Program, which houses the nation’s first joint degree program in Law and Disability Studies. Professor Kanter also co-directs the SU Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies, the nation's first multi-disciplinary university center dedicated to research, advocacy, academic programming, and public education on issues of inclusion and equality for people with disabilities. In 2005, Professor Kanter was awarded Syracuse University's most prestigious teaching award, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Award for Excellence in Teaching. She also holds a courtesy appointment at the School of Education.
Fall Issue of Education Exchange now available
10/8/2009
The Fall 2009 issue of the
Education Exchange is now available. This issue features an interview with Wendy Harbour, Lawrence B. Taischoff Assistant Professor of Inclusive Education, by
Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee (BCCC) and many other stories concerning Center affiliated faculty, students and staff.
Education Exchange is published annually by the School of
Education and distributed free to alumni, friends, faculty, staff, students, and parents.
Project Seeks Nominations of Organizational Transformation
3/6/2009
The Center on Human Policy, at Syracuse University, is conducting a study of organizational transformation within services for individuals labeled with intellectual or developmental disabilities. This study is being conducted as part of a subcontract with the Research and Training Center on Community Living and Employment at the University of Minnesota. We are seeking nominations of organizations that have undertaken substantial organizational change to move from traditional facility-based supports to integrated, individualized community supports (e.g., supports based on the needs and interests of a particular person, versus a large or small group of people; and supports that promote control, choice, and inclusion).
In particular, we are seeking nominations of:
- local, regional, or state level organizations that have or are in the process of undertaking significant transformation away from facility-based services
- various types of organizations, such as those that support adults to live in the community; those that support children and their families in the community; those that support adults to work in the community
- organizations that have included workforce initiatives as a key aspect of organizational transformation
- organizations that have engaged a variety of stakeholders, including individuals with significant impairments, as part of the transformation process.
Please send nominations to Pam Walker, at the Center on Human Policy, pmwalker@syr.edu or call 315-443-4290.
School of Education's inaugural Centennial Professor Steven Taylor to develop new undergraduate disabilities studies program
6/4/2008
Steven J. Taylor, professor of cultural foundations and co-director of Syracuse University's Center on Human Policy, Law and Disability Studies, has been named Centennial Professor in Disability Studies in the School of Education. Taylor’s appointment as the school’s first Centennial Professor is in recognition and appreciation of his pioneering scholarship in and commitment to the field of disability studies. Among Taylor’s duties as Centennial Professor will be the creation of an undergraduate Disabilities Studies program. The program, although housed within the School of Education, will be interdisciplinary in its outlook and operation.
In announcing this appointment, Douglas Biklen, dean of the School of Education, noted, “Steve has been one of the leaders internationally in establishing the field of disability studies, and so it is fitting that he will lead Syracuse faculty and students in creating an undergraduate disability studies program. In naming Steve Centennial Professor in Disability Studies, Syracuse University seeks to build on a historical tradition in disability research at the University.”
With partial support from the Syracuse University Chancellor's Initiatives, the professorship will invest in a series of activities including program development, public lectures, seed grants, film screenings and other activities that will enhance the University’s contributions to the interdisciplinary field of disability studies.
The new disabilities studies program will be an extension of Taylor’s life-long commitment to the field of disability studies. The program will offer undergraduate-level courses in the sociology of disability, disability rights, culture of disability, social policy and disability and representation of disability and ability. While the program will offer School of Education students the opportunity to make disability studies the focus of their undergraduate major, it also will allow undergraduates in schools and colleges across the SU campus to pursue minors in disability studies. In addition, this unique program aims to attract prospective students with disabilities and those who have had personal experience with people with disabilities.
“I’m honored to be appointed Centennial Professor, but more than anything else, this appointment will enable me—with the help of other faculty and students—to continue to build Syracuse University’s disability studies program,” says Taylor. “We had the first graduate disability studies program in the country. Now, it’s time to develop an undergraduate program. We hope to do on the undergraduate level what we’ve done in our graduate program—attract outstanding students to Syracuse University.”
Taylor will begin designing the undergraduate program this summer with University faculty members, administrators and students. The program will focus on policy, popular culture, social and cultural aspects of disability, and the relationship between disability and race, class, gender and sexuality. Students in the program will benefit from having the opportunity to study with prominent disability studies faculty members, with additional support from outstanding doctoral students and adjunct faculty who will be available to help with the program.
Taylor is a nationally recognized specialist in the inclusion and rights of people with disabilities. In addition to conducting research, Taylor provides training and technical assistance in the area of disabilities studies and has extensive experience in establishing community living arrangements for people with severe disabilities. Taylor is an authority on deinstitutionalization, school and community inclusion, disability policy, disability trends and controversies, and has written numerous books and articles on these topics. In recognition of his scholastic excellence, Taylor has received numerous awards and citations, including the American Association on Mental Retardation Research Award (1997); a visiting professorship at Keio University, Japan (1998); and the Syracuse University Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement (2003). Earlier this year, Taylor was presented the first Senior Scholar Award of the Society for Disability Studies.
Taylor holds a B.S. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. degree in sociology from Syracuse University. He worked at the University of Minnesota and Cornell University before becoming director of SU's Center for Human Policy in 1983. He was named co-director of the Center on Human Policy, Law and Disability Studies in 2005.