Brandeis Magazine

Through a four-year $450,000 grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation, Brandeis has launched the Ruderman Social Justice in Disability Scholars program, which will prepare undergraduates to become leaders in disability research, advocacy and service provision.

Over the course of the grant period, 15 scholars will be selected from the interdisciplinary Health: Science, Society and Policy (HSSP) program, which lets students explore the biological underpinnings of health, illness and disability, as well as their social, political, legal and economic dimensions.

Susan L. Parish, the Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Disability Policy and director of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, and Sara Shostak, associate professor of sociology and HSSP chair, will oversee the implementation of the Ruderman program.

In addition to providing scholarship support, the program will develop new courses focused on disability and inclusion, create internships at organizations that support people with disabilities and their families, and fund student research projects conducted under the direction of Brandeis faculty.

The first two Ruderman scholars, selected earlier this year, were HSSP majors Danielle Sackstein and Ruth Zeilicovich, both ’14.