Welcome to
Disability Studies Convocation!
We’ll be starting shortly.
Program
Accessibility (Joanne Woiak, Heather Evans)
Welcome Remarks by Jason Naranjo
Student Speech by Toby Gallant
Graduation Video
Presentation of Graduates (Heather Evans, Joanne Woiak)
Awards Presentation (Jason Naranjo, Tiara Schwarze-Taufiq, Mark Harniss)
Closing Poem (Sara Goering)
Reception
Welcome Remarks
Student Speaker
Graduation Video
Presentation of Graduates
Disability Studies Major
Ameli Cyr
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Law, Societies & Justice
Ameli is a diversity and inclusion advocate, whose DS capstone research was a study on accessibility and perception, which they hope will lead to an increase in accessibility at UW and more expansive knowledge generation. Future plans: Attending UW Bioethics as a graduate student.
Ameli received the GWSS Service Award this year.
Toby Gallant
Concentrations in Education, Law, and ASL
Favorite memory was being able to utilize the knowledge and skills gained from class and community, while working for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva. This summer I will be working for the UW ADA Office to create accessibility guides for Departments, before moving international to focus my work and studies surrounding education in conflict.
Daniel Isherwood
Favorite memory: Working on my capstone was a very exciting and energizing process. I was able to apply everything that I learned in a way that was tangible and served a need. Future plans: Find work in disability justice and focus on my career for about a year, and then consider a master's program.
Dawn Jansen
Minors in Urban Ecological Design and Comparative History of Ideas
Favorite memory: I had a good laugh with Heather Evans when as a DS newbie, I Googled "disability porn" instead of "inspiration porn." My future plans are to apply to Occupational Therapy School, continue to explore multi-sensory storytelling modalities and dabble in projection mapping technologies.
Joanna Knoll
Minor in Informatics
This winter I interviewed other autistic students for my capstone project and it was a highlight of my time here! I was able to use skills I learned from both my major and minor. Having social interactions with peers, within a context with such set norms and expectations, was surprisingly enjoyable. Over the course of the project I learned so much about interviewing skills, the multiple methods used to analyze qualitative data, and the ways other autistic people are both the same and different from me.
Lilly Rose
Learning about access intimacy in Joanne's Disability History class was a big moment for me, as it finally put a name to that feeling I've had for a while; when someone just “gets” your access needs. That's how my entire time at UW has felt within the disability studies space. I am applying to graduate school for school psychology. I hope to bring a disability justice lens to the current field of special education.
Congratulations!
Disability Studies Minor
Jadelyn Allchin
Education, Communities & Organizations
Jadelyn is currently in Oklahoma City representing UW in the Women’s Softball College World Series.
Ariana Chavannes
Psychology
Future plans: Moving to Washington DC to work in research at the NIH.
Hannah Kane
History
Favorite memory: Having 5 quarters in a row of classes with Joanne! Also, the chance to understand and cultivate my own disability identity through conversations with others in the program. I will be pursuing a Masters' of Social Work at Portland State University, with plans to study anti-ableist practice and alternative therapies.
Hannah received the GWSS Pamela E. Yee Gender and Disability Studies Award this year.
Reina Miku Lewis
Education, Communities & Organizations
I always loved knowing that I could walk into a Disability Studies class and I would see familiar and new faces who were all always present in their whole selves and understanding of each other's needs and auras. I hope to teach in Japan in the future!
Angelina Martino
Psychology
I really loved my disability in media class, watching movies and reading books to discuss as a group was so much fun and I felt like I learned so much. I plan to go to graduate school to become an occupational therapist.
Sanghavi Mayooran
Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology
Every quarter, without fail there was one day where the discussion would always be even more full of depth. The whole basis of DS is in some way or the other personal and I think that during those discussions it was brought out how inclusive and safe our UW Dis St community is. The vulnerability and knowledge expressed in those classrooms forever left an impact for me. Masters in Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine at USC.
Ewan McCartney
History and Political Science
I was doing homework for Joanne's class on Sex, Gender, and Disability before I went bowling. I read a piece by Dr. Alyssa Hillary Zisc called “The Erasure of Queer Autistic People,” and it impacted me so much that I read a lot of Queer and Disability theory in between bowling throws. I have started working at a crisis hotline and then I am starting a Master’s in Special Education Program at UW in the fall.
Katia Alexandria Meuleman
Human Centered Design & Engineering
Favorite memory: Being able to connect over zoom in breakout rooms through our shared identities and values. I am pursuing a career in accessible design to ensure disability justice is engrained in the future.
Abigail Lauren Miranda
Biology (Physiology)
I have trouble picking a single memory, but Disability Studies has introduced me to the most respectful and empathetic peers at UW. Future plans: I will be working as the Hospital Outreach Coordinator for a local nonprofit.
Wanjiru Mwasi
English
I am interested in disability justice advocacy. I am not entirely certain what that will look like but I am drawn to education whether that be a career in teaching, or working to allocate proper resources that will strengthen a school's ability to accommodate all of their students, or both. My immediate future consists of taking the time to rest and rejuvenate before committing to any type of work.
Jocelle Pham
Biochemistry
I don't think I have a specific favorite memory but I truly appreciate how kind all the DIS ST professors have been as well as my peers within the classroom. I plan on studying and preparing for dental school admissions.
Amanda Salerno
Biology
The professors in the program were so kind and fostered a space where we could have tough conversations, make friends with our classmates, and think outside the box to show our learning. One of my favorite classes was with Ronnie because she was always so excited to hear our thought processes! I will be working full time as a Medical Assistant in a naturopathic pediatric clinic while I apply to PA school!
Tara Weiman
Psychology
Studying abroad in Geneva to work at the United Nations. Along with 19 other UW students, this gave us the opportunity to research a List of Issues for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Being able to have a direct impact to the session was something I will never forget. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to meet so many amazing people and further my education in a hands-on way. I am hoping to become an Occupational Therapist.
Congratulations!
Disability Studies Graduate Certificate
Ryan DeCarsky
PhD in Sociology
Favorite memory: The supportive and welcoming environment of the Disability Studies writing seminar. My research focuses on United States LGBTQ+ communities including Deaf-Queer/LGBTQ+ folk. It draws on these lived and embodied experiences to provide insight into culturally relevant processes such as queering of institutions, forming of collective identities, and individual meaning making.
Or Vallah
PhD in Art History
Favorite memory: TAing for Introduction to DS. My students this quarter were lovely. My research considers the corporeality of early modern artists in central Italy with the methodology offered by disability studies and affect theory. I recenter the artists' bodies to reveal their role in constituting their identities and deconstructing the binary of disabled and non-disabled experiences to expose the productive power of disability in defining the processes and conceptualization of artmaking.
Maddie N. Zdeblick
PhD in Learning Science and Human Development
Favorite memory: Heather’s Foundations course was the highlight of the certificate for me. We built such a strong community, and I learned so much from my fellow students. My research focuses on co-designing for Disability Justice within theater education spaces, to investigate how these might disrupt the ways ableism and racism circulate in mainstream US schooling. My work is not about using theater as therapy or to improve test scores; it is about using theater to practice agency, cultivate solidarity, and carve out spaces for joy.
Graduating Disability Studies Community Members
Shannon Meyer
Masters in Cultural Studies at UW Bothell
Sarah Arvey Tov
PhD in Education
Ronnie Thibault
Interdisciplinary Individual PhD in DS, History, and Geography
Congratulations Disability Studies Graduates!
Awards Presentation
Harlan Hahn Endowment Fund Grants
Tiffany-Ashton Gatsby
PhD Sociocultural Anthropology
At the American Anthropological Association in Toronto, will be chairing a graduate student roundtable focusing on ableism in the anthropological canon and examining anti-colonial, anti-racist, and anti-ableist ways to reevaluate graduate school education. They will also be presenting a paper focusing on inequity in access to psychedelic therapy.
Melody (Bishan) Yang
PhD Rehabilitation Science
A dissertation project that uses a community-engaged approach and mixed methods study design to understand environmental influences on community participation among people with Multiple Sclerosis. I would also like to say that I am so thankful for the Harlan Hahn Award that supports me to conduct a research project that I am very passionate about.
Harlan Hahn Grants
Megan McCloskey (PhD Law)
Participate in the upcoming Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in NY.
Anna Noel Pickett (JD and LLM Law)
Attend the UN’s Conference of State Parties to the CRPD in New York and National University of Ireland’s International Disability Summer School.
Harlan Hahn Grants
Ryan DeCarsky (PhD Sociology)
“Queering Deafhood: Identity Formation and Community Building by Deaf-LGBTQ+ Folk in the US”
Or Vallah (PhD Art History)
On-site research in Italy for her dissertation on early modern notions of art-making through the lenses of DS and art history.
Maddie N. Zdeblick (PhD Education)
Dissertation exploring how theater teaching artists, high school interns, and adults with disabilities can work together to design inclusive theater learning experiences grounded in Disability Justice.
Harlan Hahn Grants
Stephen Meyers (Associate Professor LSJ, DS, International Studies)
& Shixin Huang (Research Assistant Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, Hong Kong)
An exploratory field visit to establish relationships with grassroots organizations, providers, educators, and policymakers for a comparative research project on the rights of persons with disabilities and older persons in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The project also offers an opportunity for the UW DSP to increase its relationships both on-campus in Seattle and across the Pacific in Greater China.
Danbi Lee
Assistant Professor Rehabilitation Medicine
In collaboration with the Occupational Therapy and Disability Studies Network, the project will develop a website to promote disability studies informed occupational therapy education. The goal is to assemble lecture packets, practical guides, and other resources for educators and make them available via the website to make disability studies perspectives and content accessible and easy to integrate into OT education.
Ashley Cowan D’Ambrosio & Christine Lew
DS Program Affiliates
Course development for co-instructors in the Disability Studies Program in 2023-24 academic school year - this is a pedagogical model which embraces the interdependence championed by the disability justice movement.
Through the development and utilization of this co-teaching model, the project aims to work towards ending the segregation and exclusion of students and faculty with remote access needs from institutions like the University of Washington, starting with the Disability Studies Program.
Dennis Lang Award in Disability Studies
Emma McDonnell
PhD Human Centered Design & Engineering
Emma is a student in the Disability Studies Graduate Certificate, which is helping to shape her work on technology to support more accessible communication.
“I’m honored to receive the Dennis Lang award as I am passionate about bringing disability studies expertise to the field of accessible technology.”
Or Vallah
PhD Art History
Or’s dissertation focuses on 16th- century Italian art and artists’ identity making through their embodied experience. Or serves on the School of Art’s DEIA Committee and the Students Advisory Council to the Dean of CAS, advocating for improving accessibility in the college.
“I feel honored to receive the Lang Award and plan to use this money to develop a digital, public-facing component to my dissertation.”
Toby Gallant
Disability Studies Major
Toby is a Disability Justice advocate & the inaugural recipient of the Barbara Greenberg Endowed Scholarship in Disability Studies. He is committed to creating inclusive and equitable educational experience for all body-minds through local, state, and international policy and law.
“It is an immense privilege to be awarded the Dennis Lang Award and be a part of a resilient history of disabled advocates at the UW fighting to transgress education.”
Barbara Greenberg Distinguished Scholarship in Disability Studies
Marissa Manning
Disability Studies
Education, Communities & Organizations
Marissa is a third year student and will be graduating with her BA next spring.
“I am extremely thankful to have received the Barbara Greenberg Distinguished Scholarship. I will continue to pursue my goals through an internship with Seattle Public Schools starting in the fall.”
Congratulations!
Closing Poem
Maggie Smith, “Future”
Read by Sara Goering
What is the future?
Everything that hasn’t happened yet, the future�is tomorrow and next year and when you’re old�but also in a minute or two, when I’m through�answering. The future is nothing I imagined�as a child: no jet packs, no conveyor-belt sidewalks,�no bell-jarred cities at the bottom of the sea.�The trick of the future is that it’s empty,�a cup before you pour the water. The future�is a waiting cup, and for all it knows, you’ll fill it�with milk instead. You’re thirsty. Every minute�carries you forward, conveys you into a space�you fill. I mean the future will be full of you.�It’s one step beyond the step you’re taking now.�It’s what you’ll say next until you say it.
Congratulations Class of 2023!