Message from the Director
Aloha:
We take this opportunity to share with you some of the exciting events and accomplishments of the CDS this past year and projections for exciting new developments in 2007 - 08. This was a monumental year for collaboration and change creating many new opportunities and future of choices for faculty, staff, people with disabilities and their families. The 2007 Pac Rim Conference, one of the highlights of the year, was an international event, which brought together nearly 1,000 people to hear reports on the latest research, promising practices, and cutting-edge thinking related to disabilities. This year marked our continued efforts to place the “Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal” among the worlds premier publications in the field of disability studies. Also, the CDS Interdisciplinary Disability Studies training programs continue to grow at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The CDS also sponsored several national summits, capacity-building workshops, and a number of international meetings aligned with the Pacific Rim Conference and other events.
During this year, CDS reached the highest funding level in its history, with over fifteen million dollars generated in new grants and contracts through more than twenty different funding agencies.
During the 2007 – 08 year, the Center on Disability Studies will celebrate its 20th Anniversary as an organized and funded Center within the University of Hawaii system. The celebration will include a series of special publications and monthly special events highlighting the 20 years of the Center, its faculty, projects and initiatives, and those families and persons with disabilities who have been a part of and/or benefited from the over the years.
Please check in at the CDS web site for a full listing of 20th Anniversary publications and activities to kick-off July 1, 2007. Further the Web site provides a detailed description of the projects and activities of the CDS as it seeks to implement its mission internationally, nationally, and locally.
We welcome your feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions.
Aloha,
Robert Stodden
Director & Professor
