Get to Know: BBI Faculty Fellow and Falk Assistant Professor Katherine McDonald
Katherine McDonald, Ph.D
Assistant Professor, Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Faculty Fellow, Burton Blatt Institute
Katherine McDonald’s dual appointment reflects a unique and unprecedented partnership between SU’s colleges and BBI towards infusing disability awareness across disciplines
You are dually appointed as an assistant professor in the Falk College and a faculty fellow at BBI. What kind of opportunities does this offer you?
I have access to a broader set of colleagues. Across a wide array of disciplines and substantive interests -- including health disparities, access to service for people with developmental disabilities, and social work --, we’re able to think about the relevance of disability. I also have the opportunity to teach undergraduate and graduate students. I’m currently teaching a graduate seminar on disability and health, and that helps me share with students the work we’re doing and foster their understanding of the relevance of disability in their future professions. The Falk College is my academic home and BBI is my research home. My joint appointment allows me to build bridges between these two communities.
What does your research entail?
Most of what I do involves thinking about how we either understand or seek to improve the integration of people with disabilities in community life. This focus brings me into a lot of different domains. One major strand of my research is thinking about how to take principles of disability rights -- such as self-determination, dignity, and worth -- and bring those into the domain of research participation for adults with developmental disabilities.
Another sphere that I look at is access to quality healthcare; that’s my work with autistic adults. This research involves doing large-scale surveys, as well as interviews, to understand health and healthcare disparities in primary care and in the quality of that care. We’re also curious about the online autistic community. Many autistics prefer to communicate in text-based, non-real-time interactions. As such, the Internet has opened up new ways of being and connecting in the world for them. I’m studying that experience, in particular whether online participation for autistic adults is associated with developing a positive autistic identity, increased social support, and psychological well-being.
Another major project is working with individuals with diverse disabilities to examine accessibility of public entities and community participation among adults with disabilities.
A lot of my research uses or draws from participatory action research, a research approach characterized by close collaboration between academic researchers and persons with disabilities.
What brought you to this field of work?
I’ve always been interested in social justice; growing up, my family always attended to the topic. At first, I didn’t know how I wanted to use my professional life to promote social justice. Fortunately, during college and then immediately after, I had the opportunity to live in communities with adults with developmental disabilities in Syracuse (my hometown!) and Switzerland. This experience was deeply moving and motivating as I saw the humanity of this often marginalized population and their struggles to be included—ever since I’ve used that experience to inform my work.
What is your favorite part of the job?
The synergy of how everything comes together, from working with people with disabilities to working with students and other researchers. All these experiences enrich my perspective and widen the community of people who understand and care about the rights of people with disabilities.
You came to SU from Portland State University in Oregon; how is it being back in Syracuse?
It’s lovely being back. Actually, ask me again in a few months. No, it’s great to be here! The west coast was fantastic, but it’s always nice to come back to your roots.
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