Virtual Retirement Party for Devva Kasnitz and Susan Fitzmaurice to follow the Annual Membership Meeting - July 30th

CH
Cassandra Hartblay
Mon, Jul 12, 2021 6:27 PM

Dear colleagues,

Please join us for the hour-long Society for Disability Studies Annual Membership meeting on July 30, 2021 at 8am(PT)/11am(ET).

Then, stick around for a retirement celebration in honor of Devva Kasnitz and Susan Fitzmaurice at 9:15am(PT)/12:15pm(ET) - 10:15am(PT)/1:15pm(ET).

Both events will be hosted online via Zoom (using the same Zoom link). The meeting link and call-in information is below. Please do not share the Zoom link publicly (many of us have experienced Zoom bombings). You are welcome to invite others that the honorees might like to include who may not be on the SDS members list.

ASL and captioning provided by SDS. Please contact cassandra@disstudies.orgmailto:cassandra@disstudies.org with questions or access requests.

About the honorees

Devva Kaznitz will retire this year from her current position as Executive Director of the Society for Disability Studies. Devva was a founding member of SDS, and became an inaugural board member when SDS was first incorporated as a non-profit in 1986. At that time an early career scholar, Devva received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1981, and subsequently held postdoctoral appointments at Northwestern University and the University of California San Francisco. She has tirelessly promoted disability policy as a consultant, educator, and scholar. In 2013 she was awarded the SDS Senior Scholar Award in recognition of her landmark scholarship and mentorship as an anthropologist doing disability studies. She has served as the Executive Director of SDS since 2016, a role that she has held in tandem with academic appointments in disability studies at institutions including Miami University Ohio and CUNY.

Susan Fitzmaurice joined SDS in the 1990s, and her volunteer labor has been invaluable to the organization. Many members know Susan because for over 20 years she has been a welcoming presence at (the in-person) SDS conferences, greeting people as they arrive and checking in members at the conference welcome desk. Susan - along with her son and fellow member Teddy - can often be found during the conference sitting at the desk surrounded by the T-shirts and buttons that Teddy designs. In addition to her service at conferences, Susan has been running the SDS member email listserv for 22 years, moderating content and coordinating member requests on a volunteer basis. Her work has led to the list we know and value today. She also built the SDS website and worked to establish the SDS membership management system. Susan's technical skills and volunteer commitment to SDS is irreplaceable. Recently Susan has been stepping back due to ill health and handing off her roles to a new generation.

If you would like contribute to the virtual celebration, you can:

  1. Sign up to give a toast during the virtual party (30 seconds to 5 minutes, let's say. You can prepare something to read or share extemporaneously. A toast should reflect on Susan and/or Devva's contribution to SDS and disability studies and advocacy, your experiences with Susan and/or Devva over the years, well wishes for the next chapter, etc. Please email to Cassandra Hartblay (cassandra@disstudies.orgmailto:cassandra@disstudies.org) with "Retirement Party" in the subject line by July 25th.)

  2. Contribute a photo to a memory slideshow. If you have photos from the past, please email to Cassandra Hartblay (cassandra@disstudies.orgmailto:cassandra@disstudies.org) with "Retirement Party" in the subject line by July 25th. Please include an image description for access and basic information about the photo (who, what, where, etc. The images won't circulate beyond this gathering. Emphasis on Susan, Devva, and SDS, but other related memories are great too.

  3. Help with the event. Write to Pam Block or Cassandra Hartblay. We need volunteers to be available to troubleshoot access and technology during the event, assist with compiling and running the slideshow, etc.

We hope you'll join us in giving Devva and Susan a send-off worthy of their immense contributions to our organization and the disability studies community.

Warmly,

Cassandra Hartblay (on behalf of the SDS board)

Pam Block

--

Event link - DO NOT SHARE or POST online. Personal invitations via email to friends of Devva and Susan are ok.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/8187160474

Meeting ID: 818 716 0474

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Meeting ID: 818 716 0474

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Dear colleagues, Please join us for the hour-long Society for Disability Studies Annual Membership meeting on July 30, 2021 at 8am(PT)/11am(ET). Then, stick around for a retirement celebration in honor of Devva Kasnitz and Susan Fitzmaurice at 9:15am(PT)/12:15pm(ET) - 10:15am(PT)/1:15pm(ET). Both events will be hosted online via Zoom (using the same Zoom link). The meeting link and call-in information is below. Please do not share the Zoom link publicly (many of us have experienced Zoom bombings). You are welcome to invite others that the honorees might like to include who may not be on the SDS members list. ASL and captioning provided by SDS. Please contact cassandra@disstudies.org<mailto:cassandra@disstudies.org> with questions or access requests. About the honorees Devva Kaznitz will retire this year from her current position as Executive Director of the Society for Disability Studies. Devva was a founding member of SDS, and became an inaugural board member when SDS was first incorporated as a non-profit in 1986. At that time an early career scholar, Devva received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1981, and subsequently held postdoctoral appointments at Northwestern University and the University of California San Francisco. She has tirelessly promoted disability policy as a consultant, educator, and scholar. In 2013 she was awarded the SDS Senior Scholar Award in recognition of her landmark scholarship and mentorship as an anthropologist doing disability studies. She has served as the Executive Director of SDS since 2016, a role that she has held in tandem with academic appointments in disability studies at institutions including Miami University Ohio and CUNY. Susan Fitzmaurice joined SDS in the 1990s, and her volunteer labor has been invaluable to the organization. Many members know Susan because for over 20 years she has been a welcoming presence at (the in-person) SDS conferences, greeting people as they arrive and checking in members at the conference welcome desk. Susan - along with her son and fellow member Teddy - can often be found during the conference sitting at the desk surrounded by the T-shirts and buttons that Teddy designs. In addition to her service at conferences, Susan has been running the SDS member email listserv for 22 years, moderating content and coordinating member requests on a volunteer basis. Her work has led to the list we know and value today. She also built the SDS website and worked to establish the SDS membership management system. Susan's technical skills and volunteer commitment to SDS is irreplaceable. Recently Susan has been stepping back due to ill health and handing off her roles to a new generation. If you would like contribute to the virtual celebration, you can: 1. Sign up to give a toast during the virtual party (30 seconds to 5 minutes, let's say. You can prepare something to read or share extemporaneously. A toast should reflect on Susan and/or Devva's contribution to SDS and disability studies and advocacy, your experiences with Susan and/or Devva over the years, well wishes for the next chapter, etc. Please email to Cassandra Hartblay (cassandra@disstudies.org<mailto:cassandra@disstudies.org>) with "Retirement Party" in the subject line by July 25th.) 2. Contribute a photo to a memory slideshow. If you have photos from the past, please email to Cassandra Hartblay (cassandra@disstudies.org<mailto:cassandra@disstudies.org>) with "Retirement Party" in the subject line by July 25th. Please include an image description for access and basic information about the photo (who, what, where, etc. The images won't circulate beyond this gathering. Emphasis on Susan, Devva, and SDS, but other related memories are great too. 3. Help with the event. Write to Pam Block or Cassandra Hartblay. We need volunteers to be available to troubleshoot access and technology during the event, assist with compiling and running the slideshow, etc. We hope you'll join us in giving Devva and Susan a send-off worthy of their immense contributions to our organization and the disability studies community. Warmly, Cassandra Hartblay (on behalf of the SDS board) Pam Block -- Event link - DO NOT SHARE or POST online. Personal invitations via email to friends of Devva and Susan are ok. Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/8187160474 Meeting ID: 818 716 0474 One tap mobile +19294362866,,8187160474# US (New York) +13017158592,,8187160474# US (Washington DC) Dial by your location +1 929 436 2866 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 818 716 0474 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aq9CmKUgG