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 Kasnitz 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:
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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
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 Kasnitz 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