Elizabeth DePoy

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Elizabeth DePoy is a theorist and researcher who is best known for her work in methods of inquiry and legitimacy theory[1][2], [3], [4], & [5]. Co-authored with Stephen Gilson, DePoy developed Explanatory Legitimacy Theory. Through that lens, DePoy analyzes how population group membership is assigned, is based on political purpose, and is met with formal responses that serve both intentionally and unintentionally to perpetuate segregation, economic status quo, and inter-group tension.

Her work is substantive and has created an important theoretical advancement in disability and diversity studies through the contribution of explanatory legitimacy theory[6]. This frame of reference has served as the basis for her work and has been acknowledged as a new paradigm for disability studies by many scholars in the field (4).

Her research in disability studies and the advancement of disability as diversity, through which she applies the lens of Explanatory Legitimacy Theory, has been supported from federal and foundation sources in excess of seven million dollars [7]. Her ability to win these extramural funds to advance her scholarship has had a significant impact in advancing the literature in the field of disability studies for which she has been recognized by prestigious awards and international notability (Cite) begetting invitations to keynote at national and international conferences on disability studies and distinguished lectures at University of Illinois at Chicago [8], University of Michigan at Ann Arbor [9], Smith College, NYU [10], University of North Carolina and others. Her awards for scholarship include:

  • University of Maine, Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award, May 2007.
  • Outstanding Achievement Award, Association of University Centers on Disability, November 2006.
  • Allan Meyers Award for Scholarship in Disability, American Public Health Association, September 2005
  • Fulbright Senior Specialist Scholar, Grant awarded to Assuit University, Assuit, Egypt, March, 2003
  • Feminist Scholarship Award-Council on Social Work Education, March 2000.

In Rethinking Disability (2004) DePoy, with co-author Gilson, takes on the essentialist nature of current diversity categories with a particular focus on disability, laying bare the value foundation and political and economic purpose of “disability category” assignment and social, professional and community response. Her subsequent works, co-authored with Gilson, include The Human Experience (2007) and selected essays and papers. This scholarship applies legitimacy theory to understanding theories of human description and explanation and their purposive, political use in diverse “helping professional” worlds.

In her most recent work, DePoy, with co-author Gilson, applies design theory and practice to the analysis of diversity categories, their membership, and their maintenance. She asserts that current approaches to understanding and responding to diversity are grand narratives that advantage the market and professional economy while perpetuating difference and inter-group struggle, truncating social justice and limiting equality of opportunity.

DePoy is currently professor and coordinator of Interdisciplinary Disability Studies at the University of Maine [11] and a principle in the Evaluation Practice Group,[12] a non-profit entity designed to systematically work towards social justice through local solutions.

Contents

[edit] Biographical information

  • DePoy was born in 1950. She earned a BS in 1972 and PhD in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been teaching since then in several universities throughout the U.S.

[edit] Selected works

Selected Articles and Essays (She has published 33 articles in peer reviewed journals, the most cited having been cited 12 times. )

  • DePoy, E. & Gilson, S. (2007) "The Bell-shaped curve: Alive and well and living in diversity rhetoric". International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and nations, 7.
  • DePoy, E. & Gilson S. (2006). "Universal web access: An intelligent web interface". International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society, 1, 128-131.
  • DePoy, E., & Gilson, S.F. (2005/2006). "Moving beyond nomothetic category: Diversity as symmetry". International Journal of the Humanities, 4, http://www.Humanities-Journal.com
  • DePoy, E. & Gilson, S.F. (2005/2006) "Universal access technology: Advancing the civil right to information literacy". International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society, 1, http://www.Technology-Journal.com.
  • DePoy, E. (2005) "Assistive technology: A blessing or a curse". Psychosocial Process.

Recent Books

  • DePoy, E. & Gilson S. (2007) The human experience: Description, explanation, and judgment. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • DePoy, E. & Gitlin, L. (2005) Introduction to research: Multiple strategies for health and human services 3rd ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
  • DePoy, E. & Gilson S.F. (2004) Rethinking Disability: Principles for Professional and Social Change. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks-Cole.
  • DePoy, E. & Gilson S. (2003) Evaluation practice. New York, NY, Taylor and Francis.

[edit] References

1. Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Maine. DIS 650 Research Seminar in Disability Studies. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.

2. Perdue University, 12th citation (Last update: November 14, 2007). How to Communicate Your Research Results. Purdue University. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.

3. International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society. Universal Web Access: An Intelligent Web Interface (2005-05-20). Retrieved on 2007-11-19.

4. Albrecht, Gary L. (2006). Encyclopedia of Disability. See Page 701. Sage Publications. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.

5 & 6. Albrecht, Gary L. (2006). Encyclopedia of Disability. See Page 699. Sage Publications. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.

7. CCIDS News. DePoy Receives 2007 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award (5/11/07). Retrieved on 2007-11-20.

[edit] All publications and Vita

A full list of publications from Elizabeth DePoy, Ph.D. is located here Pubs and Vita.