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9th Annual National Conference of the U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN)

Theme: Inclusion: The Time is Now
Dates: October 4-6, 2006
Location: Minneapolis Marriott City Center, Minneapolis, MN
Registration Costs: Regular Registration (Valid through September 22, 2006): $475.00; Late and On-site Registration: $575.00
Website: http://www.mnbln.org/USBLNconference/

Hundreds of attendees are expected from BLN chapters across the country, as well as leaders and professionals from corporations, service providers and the workforce development community. These leaders and professionals recognize the benefits of including people with disabilities in their workforce and marketplace and view people with disabilities as strategic business partners in today's workplace.

This year's conference has added a Career Fair for students with disabilities. Minnesota is the kick-off site for the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) National Mentoring Day for Students with disabilities. October 4 will begin with a nationally broadcast, live news conference.

The Future of Disability Statistics: What We Know and Need to Know

Dates: October 5-6, 2006
Location: Doubletree Hotel/Crystal City, 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, VA, 22202
Registration: $150.00, on or before September 1, 2006; $200.00, after September 1, 2006
Website: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/srrtc-2006conference.cfm

This two-day conference will (a) present statistics on the characteristics and status of working-age people with disabilities as derived from current survey and administrative data, and (b) explore options for improving future data collection and data distribution. The 2005 Annual Disability Status Report will be released on Wednesday, October 4th (the day before the conference) on Capitol Hill.

Against Health: Resisting the Invisible Morality

Dates: October 12-13, 2006
Location: Rackham Graduate School Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Registration: Free; Advanced Registration Required
Website: http://www.umich.edu/~irwg/againsthealth/

The conference will call on the expertise of an array of disciplines to examine the ways in which the category of "health," the norms associated with health, and the social functioning of those norms are, in some instances, at odds with human well being.

Autism and Advocacy: A Conference of Witness and Hope

Date: October 27, 2006: 9 a.m.– 4:30 p.m.
Location: Fordham University, 140 West 62nd Street, New York, NY, McNally Amphitheatre
Registration: Free and open to the public. Registration is required
Download Brochure: http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/boggscenter/projects/coalition%20documents/
Autism_and_Advocacy_Invite.pdf
Contact: James Fisher, email: jafisher@fordham.edu

This conference features the varieties of advocacy practiced with and by persons with autism, especially those forms of advocacy grounded in moral and religious traditions. The presentations offered at this event are intended to encourage additional reflection and discussion by members of the audience. We hope to promote greater engagement with autism advocacy as an integral component of work for social justice.

2006 Annual TASH Conference

Dates: November 8-11, 2006
Location: Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, MD
Registration: Tiered pre & late registration fees range from $74-$299
Website: http://www.tash.org/2006tash

The TASH conference is the largest and most progressive conference in the United States that focuses on strategies for achieving full inclusion for people with disabilities. This year's TASH conference will feature over 400 breakout sessions, exhibits, roundtable discussions, poster sessions and much more.

The IASSID 13th World Congress

Dates: August 25-30, 2008
Location: International Conference Centre, Cape Town, South Africa
Website: http://www.iassid.org

Seeking suggestions for plenary sessions and speakers. $30,000.00 in research grant opportunities available.

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Disability in the Middle Ages

Abstract Due: December 1, 2006
Accepted Essays Due: June 1, 2007
Contact/Editor: Josh Eyler, Columbus State University

Seeking submissions for an essay collection on disability in the Middle Ages. The goals of this book are not only to broaden our knowledge of medieval disabilities and the representations of these disabilities but also to demonstrate the ways in which the modern field of Disability Studies can inform the work of medievalists. As such, I welcome essays from any field of study, but each submission should show some awareness of current findings in Disability Studies to complement its analysis of the medieval world. Topics may include, but are certainly not limited to, depictions of disability in medieval literature, historical analyses, theoretical inquiries, etc. I will be pursuing the publication of this volume with a major university press.

Please submit an abstract of 500 words, along with a brief c.v., by December 1, 2006. Completed essays, which should be 5,000-6,000 words in length, will be due on June 1, 2007. Please direct your abstracts to Josh Eyler, Department of Language and Literature, Columbus State University, 4225 University Ave., Columbus, GA, 31907, or via electronic attachment (in MS Word format please) to eyler_joshua@colstate.edu.

Special Issue of History of Psychiatry: Anglo-European Romanticism and the Origins of Psychiatry

Proposal Due: February 1, 2007
Completed Contributions Due: November 30, 2007
Contact: George Rousseau, University of Oxford

This special issue, to be published in late 2008, seeks to explore and test the commonplace that the rise of psychiatry is chronologically commensurate with European Romanticism. Towards this goal it inquires whether the claim can hold up and, if so, under what specific conditions. It invites broad, interdisciplinary approaches capable of assessing the psychiatry, or its equivalents, of different historical periods to make the case for, or against, Romanticism and the origins of psychiatry. The Romanticism addressed is focused on the generations from 1770 to 1830, and especially includes its literature and philosophy. Papers on the wide role of such thinkers as Kant are especially welcome, as are those on developments in depression, hysteria and suicide. Self-contained studies of individual thinkers (e.g., Burton, the early English psychiatrists, Pinel, Esquirol, Freud and the Germans) or writers (e.g., Coleridge, Shelley, the German nature philosophers) are not encouraged except insofar as they relate to the larger comparative matter of origins and development.

Authors are invited to contribute papers of not more than 7000 words inclusive of notes and references, and must be formatted in the journal's house style. Scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and sciences, including medicine and its history, are invited to submit their proposals containing not more than 500 words describing their approach to Professor George Rousseau at george.rousseau@ntlworld.com by February 1, 2007. The deadline for finished contributions is November 30, 2007.

Journal Website: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsProdDesc.nav?prodId=Journal201666

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Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh Receive $15 Million from NSF To Establish A Center Focused on Improving Americans' Quality of Life

Excerpted from Quality of Life Technology Center
August 28, 2006

Pittsburgh, PA-Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) have been awarded a $15 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an engineering research center that will develop technologies to help older adults and people with disabilities live independently and productively.

Researchers at the new Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center (QoLT ERC) will create a scientific and engineering knowledge base enabling development of intelligent systems that co-exist with and work with people, particularly those with impairments.

The new Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center will be housed at Carnegie Mellon. Its scientific directors, Carnegie Mellon vice provost for research computing Howard Wactlar, and Richard Schulz, associate director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging, will oversee the research agenda. Jim Osborn, currently director of Carnegie Mellon's Medical Robotics Technology Center, will serve as its executive director. For more information, see www.qolt.org.

Full text of press release available at: http://www.qolt.org/News/2006.html

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Adopted

Excerpted from the article by Geoff Adams-Spink, BBC News
August 26, 2006

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in New York. This is the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century, and the UN hopes it will mark a significant improvement in the treatment of disabled people. The treaty is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly during its next session, which starts in September.

Those countries that sign up to it will have to enact laws and other measures to improve disability rights and also agree to get rid of legislation, customs and practices that discriminate against disabled people.

The convention recognises that a change of attitude is vital if disabled people are to achieve equal status - countries that ratify it will be obliged to combat negative stereotypes and prejudices and to promote an awareness of people's abilities and contribution to society.

Most notable among the countries that will not be signing the convention is the United States.

Full story available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/5274354.stm

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Open Rank Faculty Position in Disability Studies

The University of Toledo
College of Arts and Sciences
Ability Center of Greater Toledo Endowed Chair in Disability Studies

The University of Toledo and The Ability Center of Greater Toledo have together created a Disability Studies Program based on the values of independent living for people with disabilities and focusing on the contributions, experiences, history and culture of people with disabilities nationally and internationally. Disability is understood as a social construct, not as a medically defined condition.

The University of Toledo invites nominations and applications for a tenured position (full or associate professor depending upon qualifications) in Disability Studies beginning in Fall 2007. Salary is commensurate with experience.

The candidate must be a specialist in Disability Studies, preferably with a strong background in disability rights scholarship and activism. The Endowed Chair in Disability Studies, in partnership with the Ability Center of Greater Toledo, will be charged with elevating the program to national prominence. Specific responsibilities will include program development and oversight, teaching and advising in disability studies, pursuing an active research agenda with potential for external funding, working in collaboration with other academic units on campus to foster disability studies teaching and research, and other duties as assigned.

The University of Toledo is a student-centered public metropolitan research university with 20,000 students. As a consequence of its recent merger with the Medical University of Ohio, the University of Toledo offers a broad range of academic, professional and research opportunities to students, faculty and staff. The Ability Center of Greater Toledo is a non-profit independent living center which has served the Toledo community for over 80 years.

Send nominations or a letter of application, vita, reprints, and papers, three letters of reference and statements of teaching, research and activism interests to: Associate Dean Marietta Morrissey, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Toledo, Mail Stop #906, Toledo, OH 43606-3390. The review of applications will begin on October 15 and continue until the position is filled.

The University of Toledo is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates with disabilities, women, and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Visit our websites at:
www.utoledo.edu
www.dstprg.utoledo.edu
www.abilitycenter.org
www.utoledo.edu/colleges/as/

Director C.E.O. Council

National Organization of Disability (N.O.D.)
Washington, D.C.

The National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.), headquartered in Washington, DC is seeking an experienced professional to serve as Director of N.O.D.'s CEO Council.  The CEO Council Director would be responsible for working with N.O.D. leadership to grow our high profile, national membership council comprised of the leaders of many of the nation's top corporations. Candidates should have a minimum five years relevant experience that includes sales/marketing, public relations, and/or corporate development.  Candidates should possess ability to relay information to business audiences in concise and useful formats — such as e-newsletters and other e-communications and excellent written, verbal and public speaking skills. Knowledge of business practices relative to disability, and legislation relative to disability useful.  Must be willing to travel.  Salary $75,000-$83,000 depending on experience.

To apply: Send cover letter and resume to jobs@nod.org  Please put CEO Council Director in the subject line.
Post date: August 8, 2006

No faxes or phone calls please.  

Open Rank Faculty Position in Curriculum and Teaching/Inclusive Education

Teachers College, Columbia University
Department of Curriculum and Teaching
Inclusive Education
New York, NY

Position: Seeking a teacher educator with a strong background in both curriculum theory/design and disability, whose research focuses on pedagogical issues related to creating inclusive schools and classrooms. High priority will be given to scholars who have demonstrated a commitment in their work to confronting and transforming inequities and expanding opportunities and outcomes for all children in U.S. public schools. Our programs prepare teachers for a variety of contexts, particularly inclusive public schools in urban, culturally diverse settings. We seek a colleague who can provide leadership to promote changes in the ways that teachers are prepared to understand and educate students with disabilities and who shares our interest in contextualizing the study of inclusive education within multiple issues of diversity and marginalization in schools.

Qualifications: Earned doctorate, with focus on inclusive education, differentiated instruction, and curriculum theory and design; Established record of research and scholarship; Experience teaching in inclusive/special education elementary programs; Demonstrated excellence in teaching, especially at the university level; Strong history of successful collaboration with classroom-based educators and university colleagues.

Responsibilities: Teach courses at the Masters and Doctoral levels on inclusive education, curriculum theory/design, disability studies, and research methodology; Coordinate, with other department faculty, the programs in Inclusive Elementary (Dual Certification), and the concentrations in Disability Studies (MA Professional Certification and EdD in Curriculum & Teaching); Work in the field with school practitioners; Collaborate with colleagues on departmental projects; Advise graduate students; Guide doctoral research; Participate in departmental and College-wide committees; Engage actively in scholarly research.

Rank: Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Tenure Track

To Apply: Send CV, a letter of application, sample publications, and three letters of reference to Professor Susan L. Recchia, Search Committee Chair,
Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Box 31
Teachers College, Columbia University
525 W. 120^th Street
New York, NY 10027

Teachers College as an institution is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in employment. In offering education, psychology, and health studies, the College is committed to providing expanding employment opportunities to persons of color, women, and persons with disabilities in its own activities and in society. Candidates whose qualifications and experience are directly relevant to College priorities (e.g., urban issues, education equity, and concerns of underrepresented groups) may be considered for higher rank than advertised.

www.tc.columbia.edu