Cluster focus

The field of disability studies is an emerging area of great potential that spans a number of departments as well as schools and colleges. The Disability Studies Cluster will be built on the quality and strengths of our current faculty, the support and resources of many colleges across the campus, and the recruitment of new colleagues who complement existing expertise and address unexplored intellectual territory in the area of disability studies.

As such, the cluster is searching for three tenure-track or tenured faculty positions in disability studies during the next several years to create a group of scholars that will approach disability studies from multiple perspectives, drawing on tools from different disciplines to address a host of complex societal problems.

Cluster structure

The UW-Madison offers a remarkably rich environment for a disability studies program. The Waisman Center is a leader in research into the causes and consequences of developmental disabilities; the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the Waisman Center, designated by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, is one of a national network of centers coordinated by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities; the TRACE Center is known worldwide for pioneering work in technology and disability; and the McBurney Disability Center provides support and resources to ensure university programs and facilities are accessible to all faculty, staff, students and the community. The cluster will encourage collaboration on research and teaching across many schools and colleges, including Letters and Science, Education, Medicine and Public Health, Law, Business, Engineering, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Nursing and Pharmacy. The appointments will reside in a tenure-home granting department in which faculty are conducting important research on disability-related issues, including, but not limited to, art, communication arts, communicative disorders, educational psychology, English, history, law, nursing, philosophy, political science, psychology, rehabilitation and special education, social work and sociology.

Cluster coordinator, faculty and lead dean

Chair of Cluster Search Committee

  • Hill Goldsmith, Professor of Psychology, Fluno Bascom Professor & Leona Tyler Professor of Psychology.

Cluster Faculty

  • Walton Schalick, Assistant Professor, Departments of Medical History and Bioethics, and Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.
  • Ellen Samuels, Assistant Professor Women's Studies Program and Department of English.

Lead Dean