Dr. Ellis received a dual PhD from Michigan State University in kinesiology and deaf education and was previously a faculty member at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Marty Patwell, EdD, is a professor at WCU and is a member of the Educational Development Department and the director of Services for Students with Disabilities. He has a strong research and pedagogical interest in disability studies as a method and context for serious study. He has written numerous grants and presented nationally and internationally, including at the 2010 CIESUP conference in Heredia, Costa Rica, as well as in Macau, Shanghai, Guizhou, and Jiangxi, China. In 2010 Dr. Patwell researched disability-studies programs and practices in southern Europe in preparation for a book on disability consciousness.