I believe in “service first.” My own research and scholarship reflect the intellectual exchange between my teaching and service, anchored in my interdisciplinary education. It is only because of my commitment to multiple communities that I have been able to become an accomplished student and scholar. Knowing when to step up, and when to step back.
Including Disability Journal (2021)
Including Disability is a journal series which provides cross-disciplinary, cross-disability, and intersectional examinations of large-scale social, technological, cultural, and legal barriers faced by disabled people and offers innovative approaches to eliminating these barriers. Too often issues of disability are neglected in discussions of diversity and inclusion. The Including Disability series gives voice to disabled people and perspectives in considerations of promoting equity and inclusion in employment, education, civic participation, and other vital contexts.
“Need to Feed:” Lactation Rooms Improvement Project (2017-2020)
This project, funded by a UMD Student Facilities Fund Grant, has multiple parts including, 1) a bilingual campus-wide survey to assess Facilities to evaluate need of lactation/feeding spaces 2) facilities improvement and creation of new spaces to promote healthy feeding behaviors on campus (this includes accessibility to disabled and LGBTQ+ populations – such as changes to signage) and 3) outreach and education about current facilities and projects through a seminar series, highlighting parents stories and experiences.
Check out Fiona Jardine’s work on the survey from the APHA
Workshop: Radical Access and Awkward Ableism, Coordinator (ongoing)
Created by Mollie Greenberg, An interactive workshop which offers the basics of ableism and what radical access and disability justice means. This workshop is meant for people in solidarity with disability justice movements. Participants learn Critical Disability Studies 101 as well as practical strategies for combating inaccessibility in their daily lives. This has been offered as part of programming at the University of Maryland, College Park during Disability Awareness Month and Rise Above Ableism Week.
“You are Not Alone,” Publication Launch (Student Mentor, 2016)
“You Are Not Alone” is a campus wide publication and initiative to further the discussion of mental health and mental illness as well as highlight the importance of mental health by creating a safe space for students to express themselves through artwork and literary pieces and help students understand that they are not struggling alone.
Check out this article in the UMD student newspaper on the publication
University of Maryland (UMD) Disability Summit (co-founded in 2015)
This Summit is organized by a subcommittee, part of the UMD President’s Commission on Disability Issues. It is free and open to the public, financially supported by the the campus and community partners, including: the Mid-Atlantic ADA, Maryland Relay the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, the Maryland Civil Rights Commission, Gallaudet University, the National Institute of Health, and the American University Institute on Disability and Public Policy. Conference themes include: 2016: Activism & Advocacy in the Academy, 2017: Disability in a Polarized Society and 2019: Looking ahead – the ADA turns 30.
Bathroom Justice Event (Lead, 2015)
As part of Disability Awareness Month at the University of Maryland this event focused on the need for safe and clean facilities, for the disability community, as well as other access issues including those faced by trans* folks and parents on campus.
TerpAccess Disability Network (co-Founder & Curriculum Design, 2014)
Funded by a Moving Maryland Forward grant at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Network’s activities consisted of a half-semester course offering through the Department of Kinesiology, student-coordinated events and design of the Disability Advocacy and Awareness Training (DAAT) for the campus. This fostered important awareness and leadership skills in students providing them with opportunities be leaders in disability advocacy, and better understand issues of ableism and exclusion on their campus.
“Able” a SIC Publication: now Collective Reflections (co-chair, 2009 – 2011)
A student-led zine “created to fill a need on campus by providing students with disabilities and their allies an outlet to explore the complexity of disability it its many forms” (Editors Note, Volume 1). Contributors include students, staff, faculty and community members from Kingston, Ontario (CANADA). Able was funded and supported by the Social Issues Commission (SIC) as part of the Alma Mater Society (AMS) at Queen’s University.
Committee Work
Ontario Tech University, Oshawa (2021)
Member: President’s Indigenous Reconciliation Taskforce (2021)
Member: Accessibility Working Group (AWG) and Education and Training Subcommittee (2021)
University of Maryland, College Park (2013 – 2019)
Member: President’s Commission on Women’s Issues, UMD (2017 – 2019)
Member: President’s Commission on Disability Issues, UMD (2014 – 2019)
Member: Physical Cultural Studies Graduate Conference Planning Committee, UMD (2013 – 2018)
Co-Chair: Disability Awareness Month Planning Committee, UMD (2014 – 2017)
Chair: Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee, UMD (2015) SPH Representative/Member (2014 – 2017)
Member: Maryland Dialogues, Best Practices Subcommittee, UMD (2016 – 2017)
Coordinator: Accessibility Hub Design Committee, UMD (2016)
Member: Graduate Council, UMD (2015 – 2017)
Member: Dean’s Council of Student Leaders, School of Public Health, UMD (2015 – 2016)
Member: Graduate Students in Public Health, UMD (2015)
Member: Graduate Student Government: Diversity Committee, UMD (2014 – 2016)
Member: President’s Student Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion (2015 – 2016)
Queen’s University, Kingston (2005 – 2011)
Co-Chair: ABLE, A SIC Publication, Queen’s (November 2010 – 2012)
Member: Accessibility Queen’s, Queen’s (2010 – 2012)
Chair: Annual Sociology Graduate Symposium, Queen’s (2011), Member (2009 – 2012)
Member: (Dis)Ability Awareness Month Planning Committee, Queen’s (2011)
Member: School of Graduate and Professional Studies, Queen’s (2009 – 2011)
Member: Departmental Committee, Department of Sociology, Queen’s (2009 – 2010)
Community-based
Facilitator: SURJ DC Reading Group #40 (current)
Coordinator: White Accountability Space (online)
Stephanie J. Cork 