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Introducing JTDS

Mission | Review Policy | Editorial Board

The idea of this journal began at a Society for Disability Studies conference almost four years ago, when Beth Haller and I began a conversation about the need for a vehicle to encourage community and advance pedagogy in the field. Matthew Wangeman of Northern Arizona State and Suzanne Stolz, from the University of San Diego, were also part of that initial conversation. Around this time, Dr. Haller, Professor of Media and Mass Communication at Towson University, and Professor Wangeman created the Teaching Disability Studies Facebook page, which now has over 6,500 followers. Over the last few years, posts on that site became less focused on announcing publications or events and more focused on questions of disability studies pedagogy. Visitors to the site were seeking information about resources, assignments and course syllabi as they developed disability studies courses. It seemed as though the field was ready for a different, but related, vehicle to explore disability studies pedagogy.

When I began teaching in the early 1990’s at The City College, there were only a few programs in the country that offered disability studies courses. Now, according to the list maintained by Syracuse University, over 40 certificates, advanced certificates and degree programs have been developed.  In addition to the dedicated disability studies programs, an increasing number of disability studies courses are being offered in many other academic departments, from English and the social sciences, to music and information technology.

What is meant by the term ‘disability studies’ is in itself contested academic ground. Some courses and programs that identify as ‘disability studies’ fall on the more applied side of the spectrum, while many others are immersed in the humanities and disability theory. It is my hope that this journal will help all of us identify and explore pedagogy that prioritizes the experience of people with disabilities of all ages, uses the social model as grounding philosophy, and incorporates principles of universal design in assignment and course development and delivery.

As my own teaching has evolved over the decades, I have learned an immense amount about pedagogical approaches from the faculty in the disability studies program I direct at the CUNY School of Professional Studies and from colleagues in our CUNY Disability Studies Scholars group. I hope that the Journal of Teaching Disability Studies will help the field develop by creating another opportunity to learn from each other.

This endeavor would not have been possible without the support of the Dean of the CUNY School of Professional Studies, John Mogulescu, and our Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, George Otte. We received considerable technical assistance from Matthew Gold, Associate Professor of English and Digital Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center, Luke Waltzer, Director of the Teaching and Learning Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, and Stephen Klein, Digital Services/Systems Librarian, also at the CUNY Graduate Center. Jessica Murray, a doctoral candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, designed the publication and, along with Matthew Conlin, got our journal site up and running. I am grateful for our Editorial Board, Beth Haller, Julie Maybee, Mark Friedman, Neil Harbus and Adina Mulliken, who have provided invaluable advice and experience as the idea of the journal began to take shape. Finally, my colleagues teaching disability studies who generously agreed to serve as peer reviewers are the backbone of this effort. Every person I asked immediately and enthusiastically said yes, and I am grateful for their support and willingness to join this project.

Mariette J. Bates, CUNY School of Professional Studies

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Mission

The mission of The Journal of Teaching Disability Studies is to promote and enhance disability studies pedagogy in a wide variety of educational settings. JTDS will encourage teachers at all levels to reflect on, revise and share original research on how disability studies fits into the classroom, on syllabi, and in public educational programming, and how utilizing principles of universal design supports student learning. JTDS will invite discussion of disability studies in a broad range of educational settings, including stand-alone disability studies courses as part of an undergraduate or graduate curriculum; disability studies topics or approaches as part of discipline-specific courses across the undergraduate or graduate curriculum; disability studies in high school or primary education; disability studies in continuing education; disability studies in public educational settings (i.e. museums, cultural programming). Through the process of review and publication, we aim to encourage collaboration, experimentation and dialogue among instructors, students and programs.

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Editorial Board

Mariette Bates, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Beth Haller, Towson University, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Julie Maybee, CUNY, Lehman College, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Adina Mulliken, CUNY, Hunter College, Silberman School of Social Work and Urban Public Health Library
Mark Friedman, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Neil Harbus, CUNY School of Professional Studies

Managing Editor

Matthew Conlin, CUNY School of Professional Studies

Publication Design

Jessica Murray, CUNY, Graduate Center

Copy Editor

Dawn E. Martin

Review Board

Connie M. Anderson, Towson University
Dirksen Bauman, Gallaudet University
Arthur W. Blaser, Chapman University
Pamela Block, SUNY Stony Brook
Pamela Brillante, William Paterson University
Allison Carey, Shippensburg University
Vandana Chaudhry, CUNY, College of Staten Island
Sarah Chinn, CUNY, Hunter College
María Cioè-Peña, Montclair State University
Matthew Conlin, CUNY School of Professional Studies
David J. Connor, CUNY, Hunter College
Megan A. Conway, University of Hawaii at Manoa
April Coughlin, SUNY New Paltz, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Scott Dexter, CUNY, Brooklyn College
Sheryl Dicker, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Jay Dolmage, University of Waterloo, Canada
Kristen DuMoulin, CUNY, School of Professional Studies
Cassandra Evans, CUNY, School of Professional Studies
Alan Foley, Syracuse University
Mark Friedman, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Elaine Gerber, Montclair State University
Kristen Gillespie-Lynch, CUNY, College of Staten Island
Beth Haller, Towson University, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Stefan Sunandan Honisch, University of British Columbia
Devva Kasnitz, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Georgina Kleege, University of California, Berkeley
Jacqueline Leber, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Christopher Leydon, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Maren Linett, Purdue University
Julie Maybee, CUNY, Lehman College, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Adina Mulliken, CUNY, Hunter College, Silberman School of Social Work and Urban Public Health Library
Karen Nielson, University of California, Berkeley, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Kim E. Nielsen, University of Toledo
Jitka Nelb Sinecka, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Akemi Nishida, University of Illinois at Chicago
Noam Ostrander, DePaul University
Justine Pawlukewicz, CUNY, New York College of Technology, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Lisa Pollich, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Marion Quirici, Duke University
Michael Rembis, SUNY Buffalo
Julia Miele Rodas, CUNY, Bronx Community College
Christopher Rosa, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Susan Schweik, University of Calfornia, Berkeley
Suzanne Stolz, University of San Diego
Joseph Straus, CUNY, Graduate Center
Ekaterina Sukhanova, CUNY
Matthew Wangeman, Northern Arizona University
Franklin Wyman, CUNY School of Professional Studies, Drew University

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