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Interdisciplinary Disability Studies (IDS)

The interdisciplinary curriculum in Disability Studies provides students a means to explore disability within the larger context of diversity and to examine professional practice, scholarship, and policy related to persons with disabilities. IDS is administered through the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, with direction and oversight from the Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Academic Committee (IDSAC).

Faculty:

• Elizabeth DePoy, Ph.D., IDS Coordinator

• Stephen Gilson, Ph.D., IDS Professor

• Lucille Zeph, Ed.D., CCIDS Director

2008 Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Celebration of Achievement

Nine University of Maine undergraduates were recognized for successfully completing a 24-credit concentration in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies (IDS). The complete program and student presentations for the celebration can be accessed here.

The Undergraduate IDS Curriculum:

View the Fall 2008 Undergraduate Course Offerings

Undergraduate students may enroll in individual courses, DIS 300, 400, 480 and 490 as electives, or in the Concentration in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

The undergraduate curriculum in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies includes the following courses:

• DIS 300 Disability: Interaction of Human Diversity and Global Environments
• DIS 400 Disability as Diversity I
• DIS 450 Disability: Population-Environment Diversity
• DIS 470 Interdisciplinary Project in Disability Studies
• DIS 480 Independent Project in Disability Studies
• DIS 490 Selected Topics in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

The Master's and Doctoral IDS Curriculum:

View the Fall 2008 Graduate Course Offerings

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Concentration in Disability Studies provides the opportunity for advanced study of theory, research, policy, and practice relevant to the lives of individuals and groups with disabilities. Located within the larger discourse of human diversity, disability is analyzed as an economic, social, cultural, political, and individual phenomenon.

Disability Studies curricula are offered at the University of Maine through the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), Maine's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. Graduate students may obtain a concentration in Disability Studies in conjunction with several master’s degree programs across campus, or in conjunction with the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. or the individually designed Ed.D. Through coursework, independent studies, research, or independently pursued projects at the Center and in collaboration with the students’ disciplinary departments, students examine a range of issues confronting local, state, national and global communities in which people with disabilities live. The faculty involved in curriculum development and teaching courses in Disability Studies represent diverse departments and academic disciplines at the University of Maine.

Financial Aid: A limited number of graduate assistantships are available through the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies for students pursuing a graduate concentration in Disabilities Studies.

The master's and doctoral level curriculum in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies includes the following courses:

• DIS 600 Contemporary Disability Theory
• DIS 620 Disability as Diversity
• DIS 630 Disability Policy
• DIS 650 Research Seminar in Disability Studies
• DIS 670 Interdisciplinary Project in Disability Studies I
• DIS 671 Interdisciplinary Project in Disability Studies II
• DIS 680 Independent Study in Disability Studies
• DIS 690 Selected Topics in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

Undergraduate and Graduate Concentrations in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

CCIDS, in conjunction with faculty representatives from 14 academic departments at the University of Maine, offers both graduate and undergraduate concentrations in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies (IDS).

CCIDS’ Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Academic Committee (IDSAC) is the governing board for the Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Concentrations. The IDSAC includes faculty members from all colleges in the University.

Who might be interested in the concentration?

Graduate and undergraduate students throughout the university should consider enrolling in the concentrations in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies. The purpose of the concentration is to examine disability as a critical element of human diversity and provide the theory and practice for fashioning universal access to our communities and resources for all people including those with disabilities.

Here are just a few examples of student interest from diverse disciplinary fields:

• An engineering student interested in crafting sporting equipment for adaptive kayaking and canoeing;
• An art history student examining the changes in depiction of people with disabilities in painting;
• A journalism student interested in advancing equal opportunity for disabled workers through writing in community newspapers;
• An education major interested in full inclusion of students with disabilities in public education;
• A social work student interested in advocating for civil rights for marginalized populations including people with disabilities;
• A psychology major interested in studying child development in youth with disabilities;
• An English major interested in the depiction of disabled people in contemporary literature;
• A new media student interested in studying universal web access;
• A musician interested in studying alterative ways to perform to audiences who cannot hear.

Undergraduate Concentration in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

Graduate Concentration in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies

Contact:

For complete information about Interdisciplinary Disability Studies, visit the coordinator at 201 Corbett Hall, or contact Prof. Elizabeth DePoy at edepoy@maine.edu, phone 207/581-1469, or TTY 207/581-1084; FAX 207/581-1231.

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