Learn how engage people with disabilities in STEM through upcoming virtual workshops
This fall, the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development is launching a series of virtual workshops for researchers, educators and others seeking to broaden participation for individuals with disabilities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning and work.
The workshops are part of Project TIDES (Teaching and Inclusion for Disability and Equity in STEM), a postdoctoral training program providing early-career researchers with mentoring and professional development that centers full-inclusion for all in STEM classrooms and careers. The project is led by College of Education and Human Development Dean Zeke Kimball, a disabled researcher whose work focuses on broadening participation for all students.
Kimball will deliver the first Project TIDES workshop, “Disability as a Multivalent Construct: Diagnosis, Identity and Environment in the Representation of Disabled Realities,” on Oct. 8 from 1-3 p.m. The presentation will highlight the many different ways that disability is conceptualized in social science research, and how the variety of definitions and uses of the term have implications for both research and daily life of people with disabilities. In addition, Kimball will discuss how inattention to the various facets of disability experience can be understood as a key feature of social science research, and the real and lasting consequences this has for when disabled people can receive diagnosis, think about disability as part of their identity and their lived experience.
Upcoming speakers in the workshop series include Justin Dimmel, associate dean for academics and student engagement in the College of Education and Human Development, and Sara Flanagan, associate professor of special education. Dimmel’s presentation, “Conceptualizing STEM Education: From Discipline to (the) Learning Science(s),” will be on Oct. 29 from 1-3 p.m. Flanagan will deliver her presentation, “History of Special Education and Disability Research: The Influence and Impact on Education,” on Nov. 12 from 1-3 p.m.
In the spring, three Project TIDES postdoctoral research associates will deliver workshops.
All of the talks will be held on Zoom. More information and a link to register is online.