Kim D. Reid

Kim is currently a Professor of Education and Coordinator of Programs in Learning Disabilities and Disability Studies in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She developed this highly successful program in disability studies, forged from her decades of long work focused on the social construction of disability. Kim is Co-founder of the very successful Columbia University Seminar on Disability Studies. This ongoing series of lectures brings together scholars from a tri-state area (representing diverse disciplines, such as the humanities, social sciences, education) to engage in rich cross-disciplinary dialogue. Prominent scholars in disability studies are regularly features in this lecture series.

With over 50 published works in leading journals ranging from the Journal of Learning Disabilities, to Disability & Society and Equity and Excellence in Education, Kim’s contributions not only deconstruct long held deficit notions of disability, but reconstruct these notions in ways ranging from the serious (Anna’s Story) to the humorous (“Stand-up” comedians). Kim is a border crosser, in the most positive sense of the word—working to bridge the (mis) understandings between special education and disability studies on several fronts, including research, discourse, policy/practice and action. Kim is especially noteworthy for her mentoring of doctoral students, evidenced by her frequently co-authored publications, and by her numerous grants in support of disability studies at the graduate level.