Employment, Disability Policy,
and the Americans with Disabilities Act
Summer 1997
Director: Peter Blanck (School of Law)
 |
C. Esco Obermann and Peter Blanck |
A team of specialists in ADA theory and implementation tackled the problem of inadequate resources for policy makers, employers, and members of the disability community who are uncertain of how to implement the legislation. While the ADA is a vast and sweeping piece of Federal Law which encompasses a community of some 43 million Americans, it's practical application remains unclear.
The plan behind this seminar was an inquiry into the emerging role of interdisciplinary study in furthering effective ADA implementation. Experts from the medical, legal, sociological, economic, psychological, policy, business, rehabilitation, and historical disciplines converged to examine the history of disability policy and devise ways to apply results from existing research, policy initiatives, and jurisprudence to the ongoing challenge of implementation in society.
Consistent with the theme of the conference, the entire schedule and logistic arrangement was coordinated to standards of equal access for participants and speakers. Many of the arrangements for this purpose sparked real-time experience with the theory discussed in plenary sessions as seminar Fellows with and without disabilities learned to work around and understand the limits and flexibilities of each others' daily professional life.
The seminar's agenda was geared toward a careful timeline for the publication of collected papers to serve as a watermark of the social and cultural changes embodied in the ADA. Misperceptions were identified and redefined into clarifications with the aid of speakers from government, private industry, disability care centers, and medical specialists.
Participants
Marjorie Baldwin, (Economics, East Carolina University) - Douglas C. Baynton, (History, The University of Iowa) - Scott Burris, (Law , Temple University) - Thomas N. Chirikos, (University of South Florida) - Karen Hirsch, (Director of Programs, ParaQuad, Inc.) - Ken Kress, (Law, The University of Iowa) - Kathryn Moss, (Social Work, University of North Carolina) - Robert S. Olick, (Medical Ethics, The University of Iowa) - Teresa Scheid, (Sociology, University of North Carolina) - Thomas Walz, (Social Work, The University of Iowa) - Wendy Wilkinson, (Project Coordinator, Independent Living Research Utilization at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) - Steven L. Willborn, (Law, University of Nebraska) - Craig Zwerling, (Institute of Rural and Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, The University of Iowa)
Visiting Speakers
Marca Bristo, (Chair, National Council on Disability Access Living)
Claudia Center, (Fellow, Legal Aid Society of San Francisco Employment Law Center)
Thomas Cook, (Preventive Medicine, The University of Iowa)
James Frierson, (Management and Marketing, East Tennessee State University)
Andy Imparato, (Special Assistant to EEOC Commissioner, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
Joe Lakis, Senior Compliance Manager, Human Resources, Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Susan Mask, (Director, Affirmative Action, The University of Iowa)
Paul Miller, (EEOC Commissioner, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
Michael Stein, (New York University Law School)
Richard Tyler, (Otolaryngology, The University of Iowa)
Research Assistants
Heidi Berven (Law, The University of Iowa)
Laura Leytze (Law, The University of Iowa)
Lee Ann Bucher (Social Work, The University of Iowa)