Dr. Cushing receives national award

Dr. Pamela Cushing, Associate Professor of Disability Studies and head of the new Jean Vanier Research Centre at King’s, received The Canadian Disability Studies Association-Association canadienne d’études sur le handicap (CDSA-ACEH) Tanis Doe Award for Canadian Disability Study and Culture. The annual award was presented on June 3, 2019 in Vancouver as part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dr. Cushing was nominated by Dr. Madeline Burghardt, Assistant Professor in Disability Studies, Dr. Jeff Preston, Assistant Professor in Disability Studies, and by Mel Quevillon, Community Partnerships Liaison at King’s.

In their nomination letter, they chronicled how “with patience, creativity, and unfailing energy” Dr. Cushing had transformed King’s Disability Studies from a few courses in the Interdisciplinary Studies program to an independent program with 14 professors, offering 25 courses to over 1000 undergraduate students.

“The program has been enormously popular with the student body, quickly becoming the biggest program within the broader Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at King’s University College,” stated the nomination letter.

“I knew that these ideas were worth stepping up for, because they offer better, more imaginative pathways forward in reducing disablement and ableism. So I was grateful that Dr. Madeline Burghardt felt that the way I’ve worked on them was worthy of this incredible award. The program has become a magnet for the most curious and innovative students because of professors in Disability Studies like Madeline, and co-nominators, Jeff Preston & Mel Quevillon. I look forward to continuing to make bold choices that reflect King’s commitment to innovative education and community service,” says Dr. Cushing.

The CDSA-ACEH Tanis Doe Award, first awarded in 2009, is named after activist and professor Tanis Doe. The CDSA-ACEH website describes the honouree as “an individual who dares to ‘speak the unspeakable’ in advancing the study and culture of disability, and who has enriched through research, teaching, or activism the lives of Canadians with disabilities.”

Congratulations Dr. Cushing!

For more information on The Canadian Disability Studies Association-Association canadienne d’études sur le handicap (CDSA-ACEH) Tanis Doe Award for Canadian Disability Study and Culture, please visit http://english.cdsa-aceh.ca/student-awards/tanis-doe-award/.

For more information on Disability Studies, please visit https://www.kings.uwo.ca/academics/disability-studies/