A Brief Glance Back at Student and Trainee Achievements (April – May 2021)

2021 Interdisciplinary Disability Studies’ Gallery of Honorees

In late April 2021, thirty-four (34) University of Maine students were honored as part of the 2021 Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Celebration of Achievement. In their virtual welcome, professors Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson acknowledged the trials and tribulations of the year brought on by the pandemic and world events. “In such a contentious and unfamiliar climate, you nonetheless all have accomplished the completion of degrees and credentials at various levels of study.”

CCIDS celebrated the academic achievements of these students in three online galleries of honorees. Twenty-nine undergraduates completed the 24-credit Minor in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies; four graduate students completed the 9-credit Graduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies; and one doctoral student completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies. Each of the honorees was also invited to share how the courses shaped their perspective of disability.

2020-2021 NH-ME LEND Trainees Display Scholarship and Leadership in Virtual Capstone Poster Session

On May 7, 2021, twenty-four trainees from the 2020-2021 New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program shared their scholarship and leadership development during the annual Capstone Poster Session and Celebration. In keeping with federal and state Centers for Disease Control (CDC) health and safety guidance, the event was held online. For the second year in a row, the trainees remotely collaborated with faculty mentors and leadership partners to complete their capstone projects throughout Maine and New Hampshire.

“This is our first ever virtual LEND cohort,” said Dr. Betsy Humphreys, NH-ME LEND Program Director. “We needed to do it and we did.” Speaking directly to the trainees, Humphreys said, “It’s been such a pleasure to work with you this year. To be witness to your determination for what it’s taken to engage. . . . We’re so very proud to be here on this capstone day to see your work and how it’s unfolded across the year.”

All of the 2020-2021 NH-ME LEND Program capstone posters may be viewed on the University of New Hampshire Graduate Research Conference website, Student Research Media Gallery.