[{"id":1140,"date":"2026-05-13T02:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/thecfebeat\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2026-05-13T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T12:54:03","slug":"the-case-of-doris-hadary-a-hidden-moment-in-aus-disability-history-perry-zurn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/thecfebeat\/2026\/05\/13\/the-case-of-doris-hadary-a-hidden-moment-in-aus-disability-history-perry-zurn\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case of Doris Hadary: A Hidden Moment in AU’s Disability History – Perry Zurn"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Case of Doris Hadary<\/h1>

A Hidden Moment in AU’s Disability History<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
By Perry Zurn<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Spring 2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I was in the archives last autumn, just as the leaves started to fall. I had gotten curious about American University\u2019s Methodist heritage (Zurn, Buck, and Doolittle 2026), of which I was wholly unaware when I was hired a decade ago. Only recently, with political attacks on higher education, had I heard characterizations of our institution as explicitly Methodist.1<\/sup> I set up an appointment to review AU\u2019s archival collections on the subject. Some of the materials were more recent, like University Chaplain Bruce Poynter\u2019s (1998) religious history of the university. Other materials, dating from the 1800\u2019s, crumbled at the edges as I gingerly flipped through them. Somewhere in those folders, I stumbled across a 1970\u2019s press release announcing that the United Methodist Church had given a distinguished teaching award to AU professor Doris Hadary, commemorating Hadary\u2019s science program for local deaf, blind, and \u201cemotionally disturbed\u201d children (Moran 1974).2<\/sup><\/p>\n

I was stunned. While I had co-organized the Disability, Access, and Teaching day-long symposium at AU in 2019 and worked with some AU leaders in that space since, I got the impression that AU had very little disability history to speak of, at least until quite recently. I was also, immediately, nervous. Would Hadary\u2019s program be something of an embarrassment to us now? Was it inspired by deeply curative and ableist logics?<\/p>\n

\n

I was scheduled to teach a \u201cDisability Justice\u201d graduate course this spring term. And the idea hit me: What if I invite the students into this project of critically assessing Hadary\u2019s program?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I was scheduled to teach a \u201cDisability Justice\u201d graduate course this spring term. And the idea hit me: What if I invite the students into this project of critically assessing Hadary\u2019s program? What if I asked them to situate that legacy within current and past AU disability history? I scoured archives and databases for materials on Hadary and uploaded the little I found into a Canvas folder as a start. I also bought a hard-to-find copy of her program\u2019s curriculum (Hadary and Cohen 1978) and put it on reserve at the library. Then, I developed the assignment:<\/p>\n

Prof. Doris Hadary marks one of the earliest and most significant histories of disability education at American University. In this class project, we are attempting, together, to collect the information and perspectives necessary to critically situate her legacy. For this project, choose a research question relevant to understanding Hadary\u2019s case, its place in disability history in the US and at AU, and\/or disability history at AU more generally. Answer the question to the best of your ability (feeling free to note the limitations of your source materials). Your contribution should be 2 single-spaced pages, with full citations of all your sources. When completed, please share it on the Discussion thread on Canvas and read others\u2019 posts.<\/p>\n

Students had six weeks to complete the assignment. When I first discussed it, I led students through a brainstorming session in which we generated and sharpened a series of research questions. Students could then choose from that list or run another idea by me. Throughout the intervening weeks, we checked in a couple of times, with students reporting on their research and their changing research questions.<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, the exercise became a living example not only of how to ask and answer research questions, but also of how to proliferate research questions about the same topic and experience the different ways those questions deepened our shared understanding of the issue at hand.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Each time, I shared a research question and written contribution of my own, to offer models and to generate sustained interest in the project. Ultimately, the exercise became a living example not only of how to ask and answer research questions, but also of how to proliferate research questions about the same topic and experience the different ways those questions deepened our shared understanding of the issue at hand.<\/p>\n

The results were even better than I had anticipated. My students did deep work on Hadary\u2019s terminology (e.g., handicapped<\/em>, emotionally disturbed<\/em>), curriculum, and reception. They analyzed Hadary\u2019s collaborations with the Horace Mann School and her documentarian daughter Susan Hadary Cohen. They contextualized disability activism and legislation at the time, but they also dug into disability activism at AU across its history (e.g., addressing inaccessible buildings, initiating the Disabled Students Union, etc.). Several evaluated Hadary\u2019s legacy. As a class, we discerned that Hadary was indeed ahead of the curve, working in disability education before the US legislated it with the Individuals with Disability Education Act (1975). As such, her work became a national touchstone. She seemed well-intentioned, aiming to right two wrongs\u2014that of not teaching science to disabled children but also of not teaching teachers how to teach science to disabled children. We also saw room for critique: she did not appear to collaborate with disabled adults and left little voice to disabled students themselves.<\/p>\n

The class contributions were so impressive that I reached out to Leslie Nellis, AU\u2019s Head Archivist for Special Collections, and asked, \u201cWould you want to archive these, alongside a copy of Hadary\u2019s curriculum?\u201d Nellis was enthusiastic and, in turn, the students were excited. Now, no one has to spend weeks doing this research again on their own. They can stand on the students\u2019 shoulders!<\/p>\n

This project comes at an auspicious moment when, thanks in large part to the work of Toby Aho, the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies is launching a disability studies minor this fall. That minor indicates a new depth of commitment to learning disability history, theory, and activism. As I listened to my students discuss AU\u2019s disability history from the 1940\u2019s to the present, I realized that these stories do not just belong in the archives. They need to be at the front and center of our narrative, especially for students enrolling in the new minor, or involved in DSU, or interfacing with ASAC.<\/p>\n

\n

Disabled students, staff, and faculty deserve access to their own stories and a sense of belonging to this institution over the long-haul.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I am now working with several students to build web content for a page dedicated to disability history at AU. Disabled students, staff, and faculty deserve access to their own stories and a sense of belonging to this institution over the long-haul. Those stories include, for example, the Student Association Committee on Handicap Affairs established in 1969\u2014as early as any disabled student group in the country. They include a moment in 1988 when students built a ramp to the Kay Spiritual Life Center, visibilizing the exclusion of disabled students from campus life. And they include a long line of disabled student groups, which come in and out of existence over the decades, carrying the frustration of having to advocate all over again, largely without institutional support. But these stories also include explicitly ableist legacies at AU. In the 1930\u2019s, for example, the leader of my own Department of Philosophy and Religion published a book entitled Problem Children<\/em>, in which he argued that disabled children are miscreants in the making and pose perhaps the most significant threat to our democracy (Bentley 1936). Preserving AU\u2019s disability history will necessarily invite critical self-reflection and celebration by turns.<\/p>\n

Who knew that stumbling on an old press release would lead me here\u2014to a class assignment, a research project, an archival deposit, and webpage content? Here, teaching, research, and experiential learning intermingle\u2014but they intermingle perhaps precisely where they most matter: in service to self-understanding and community building. It is not for naught that AU has aspired, since its inception, to prepare young people for service to the world (General Board of Higher Education, UMC, 2024). In the midst of contemporary debate over what higher education is for, I hope we at AU continue to center dynamic experiences of turning learning and knowledge creation into service. That is our past; let it also be our future.<\/p>\n

_________________________
\n1<\/sup> Shout-out here to our current University Chaplain, Rev. Eric Doolittle.
\n2<\/sup> \u201cEmotionally disturbed\u201d was a catch-all term being used at the time for behavioral differences, psychiatric disorders, and neurodivergences.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>
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Author Profile<\/h4>\n

Perry Zurn is Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University. He works primarily in the areas of political philosophy, critical theory, and LGBTQ studies. He focuses especially on the politics of inquiry and voice, material histories of resistance, and poetic ecologies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

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References<\/h4>\n

John Edward Bentley. 1936. Problem Children: An Introduction to the Study of Handicapped Children in the Light of Their Physiological, Psychological, and Social Status<\/em>. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisability, Access, and Teaching: A One-Day Symposium.\u201d 2019. https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190717230314\/https:\/\/www.american.edu\/cas\/crgc\/disability\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. 2024. \u201cWhat it means to be related to a United Methodist Church with education in its DNA,\u201d 16. https:\/\/www.gbhem.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/WhatItMeansToBeRelated_6-11-24a.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doris Hadary and Susan Hadary Cohen. 1978. Laboratory Science and Art for Blind, Deaf, and Emotionally Disturbed Children: A Mainstreaming Approach<\/em>. Baltimore: University Park Press.<\/p>\n

Cindy Moran. 1974. \u201cAU Professor Receives Distinguished Teacher Award,\u201d (January 16, 1974), AU News Bureau, Press Release, \u201cMethodist Church and Higher Edu: Distinguished Teaching Award 1974\u201d folder, Box 1, AU and Methodist Church Collection, Archives and Special Collections, American University, Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Rev. Bruce Poynter. 1998. \u201cUniversity and Church,\u201d \u201cBruce Poynter\u2019s Writings\u201d folder, Box 3, AU and Methodist Church Collection, Archives and Special Collections, American University, Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Perry Zurn, Nicholas Buck, and Rev. Eric Doolittle. 2026. \u201cAU\u2019s Methodist History and Values\u201d Report (March 3, 2026). Submitted to Archives and Special Collections, American University, Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Michael Rembis, Catherine J. Kudlick, and Kim Nielsen, eds. 2018. Oxford Handbook of Disability History<\/em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n

Margaret Price. 2024. Crip Spacetime: Access, Failure, and Accommodation in Academic Life<\/em>. Durham: Duke University Press.<\/p>\n

Disability, Health, and Bodies Certificate, American University, https:\/\/www.american.edu\/cas\/crgc\/dhb-certificate.cfm<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>

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Quantitative Methods and AI<\/h1>

Preparing Graduate Students for the Job Market<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
By Shirin Sabetghadam<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Spring 2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly transformed the landscape of education. Yet students need to learn how to use it ethically and effectively as they are getting ready for the job market. Previous studies (Choustoulakis, 2024; Romero, 2025) show the benefit of integration of AI for students in quantitative courses such as personalized learning, enhanced engagement, problem solving and statistical writing. However, they didn\u2019t focus on how integrating AI into these courses could make them ready for evolving job market. To this end, I redesigned a high-stakes assignment following the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) model, utilizing AI as an iterative mentor rather than a simple productivity tool. By shifting the technology\u2019s role from basic substitution to redefinition, I integrated AI into the policy memo proposal process to serve as a Socratic collaborator. This setup pushes students to deeply examine their topics and refine their reasoning through a continuous feedback loop, preparing them to effectively engage with AI as a professional collaborator in the evolving job market. This framework is highly adaptable for statistics, econometrics, or other quantitative courses where students must learn to communicate complex data through well-reasoned policy arguments.<\/p>\n

How Did I Do It?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Similar to other instructors, my syllabus included a section outlining the use of AI in a Quantitative Methods for Public Policy course that I am teaching to Master of Public Policy students. Rather than prohibiting AI, I encouraged its responsible and ethical use as a learning tool and highlighted the potential negative externality of overreliance on AI, particularly its impact on critical thinking. At the start of the semester, I provided examples of productive AI use, such as obtaining simplified explanations, additional practice questions, and coding assistance, and administered a survey to assess students\u2019 confidence in statistics and their frequency of AI use. The results indicated that 46% of students rated their confidence level below 5 out of 10, and only 44% used generative AI on a weekly basis. In general, students cited concerns about academic integrity, mistrust of AI-generated responses, and environmental impact.<\/p>\n

Based on these findings and my goal of supporting students\u2019 growth, ability, and confidence in both AI use and quantitative reasoning, I integrated AI into the policy memo assignment. In the Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis course I teach, this major assignment involves drafting a policy memo based on real-world data and presenting it to the class at the end of the semester. Students select a policy question of their choice, identify an appropriate dataset, and apply the analytical methods covered in class to answer that question. Some examples of the topic include homelessness and access to affordable housing, the effect of SNAP on test scores, Examining the Relationship Between Public Housing and Disaster Risk, and Relationship Between EU Funding to Member States and Public Support for the European Union. This project requires both data analysis and clear communication of findings in a policy context and accounts for 24% of the final grade. The activity was designed to help public policy students engage more deeply with their research topic and question by using generative AI as a knowledgeable mentor rather than an answer provider. It aligns with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and sits at the Modification level of the SAMR framework, as AI meaningfully transforms how students develop and refine their research questions.<\/p>\n

I divided the project into four steps:<\/p>\n