ME UCEDD Holds Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Celebration of Achievement for Trainees

May 20, 2008

Nine University of Maine undergraduates were recognized for successfully completing a 24-credit concentration in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies (IDS). The curriculum, administered through the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, and coordinated by Elizabeth DePoy, Ph.D., provides students IDS students Jen Pickering, Michelle Newman and Suzanne Braco viewing a poster. 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 students (L to R) Jen Pickering, Michelle Newman
and Suzanne Braco viewing student presentations.

The annual event is an opportunity for IDS students to present their research projects to the university community and be recognized for their academic achievement. Graduate student Barbara Vittum delivering speech at recognition ceremony Barbara Vittum (photo at right) delivered the student address: view the complete text of Vittum's remarks here. DePoy and Stephen Gilson, Ph.D., professors of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies and Social Work, supervised the students' research and presented the concentration certificates and stoles at the April 29, 2008 celebration.