Pac Rim 2025

Pre-Conference Events

Symposium on Global Perspectives on Disability Engagement in the Workplace​
Promoting Quality Employment Outcomes for People with Disabilities: Building and Implementing Culturally Responsive Vocational Rehabilitation Programs
Disability Studies: International Forum
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Symposium on Global Perspectives on Disability Engagement in the Workplace

Friday, April 11, 2025
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM HST

Virtual via Zoom

The 3rd ‘Ike Loa Symposium, hosted by the Pacific Inclusive Education Research and Resources (PIER) – Inclusive Gifted Education Center, at the Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, brings together local, national, and international researchers, practitioners, businesses, organizations, individuals with disabilities, families, and advocates to explore disability engagement in the workplace. 

This year’s symposium, titled as “Global Perspectives on Disability Engagement in the Workplace,” focuses on innovative approaches to supporting individuals with disabilities in career transitions and equipping employers with the knowledge and tools to foster inclusive workplaces.

This virtual event will take place on Friday, April 11, 2025, from 12:00 to 4:00 PM (Hawaii Time) and will feature expert speakers from around the world. The symposium will include individual presentations from various countries and a panel discussion, offering attendees valuable insights into effective initiatives, effective practices, and employer or employee training programs that promote the employment and retention of individuals with disabilities in the workplace.

At the end of this event, participant sites will be able to:

  1. Understand various initiatives different countries have implemented to support the career transitions of individuals with disabilities.
  2. Identify key challenges individuals with disabilities face in the employment.
  3. Explore effective strategies used across different countries to promote inclusive hiring, onboarding, and retention practices.
  4. Engage in discussions on successful cases and lessons learned from workplace disability inclusion efforts.
  5. Develop ideas to apply in their own workplaces to enhance disability engagement.

How to Register:

Please submit the registration form by March 31, 2025. 

Contact

Dr. Hye Jin Park
parkhye@hawaii.edu

Click Here to Register
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Promoting Quality Employment Outcomes for People with Disabilities: Building and Implementing Culturally Responsive Vocational Rehabilitation Programs

Sunday, April 13, 2025
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM HST

Monday, April 14, 2025
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM HST

Ala Moana Hotel
410 Atkinson Drive, Honolulu, HI 96814

The Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Employment (VRTAC-QE; www.tacqe.com), funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA; H264K200003), works closely with state vocational rehabilitation agencies (SVRA) to build capacity for improved collaboration, VR service delivery, and quality employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Through this workshop, participant sites in the U.S. Territories (American Samoa, Guam, and CNMI) will continue their collaboration in addressing employment challenges and barriers unique to territories in the Pacific Rim using culturally responsive strategies. With support from course facilitators, each site will continue working on and sharing progress updates based on their short-term and long-term goals to improve quality employment outcomes within their program (i.e., policy development, accompanying procedural elements including training, forms, etc.).

At the end of this event, participant sites will be able to:

  1. Describe key policies and evidence-based practices (EBP) that promote quality employment outcomes in vocational rehabilitation.
  2. Describe the administrative and programmatic supports needed to implement self-employment/alternative business planning policy and practice.
  3. Learn how other territories are implementing VR policy and practice in culturally responsive ways to improve quality employment outcomes.
  4. Share implementation updates and progress made toward achieving short and long-term quality employment goals through collaborative work conducted by the PacRim CoP.
  5. Contribute to the repository of resources, goals, and ongoing implementation of quality employment strategies helpful for use in the U.S. Territories.
Click Here to Learn More
Margaret Price Photo
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Disability Studies: International Forum

Monday, April 14, 2025
9:00 AM – 2:15 PM HST

Virtual via Zoom

Join us to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Pac Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity. This year’s theme is “By Us and For Us: Legacy and Future of Our Movement”. This pre-conference meeting will explore the importance of this slogan for the growing field of Disability Studies.

Disability Studies is an interdisciplinary field which invites us to question our assumptions about disability, impairment, access, and accountability by considering the categories race, class, gender, and sexuality in our analysis.

From a Disability Studies lens, the pre-conference will explore topics such as disability access and accountability, university policies, and ways to deepen our conversations about the factors that shape our individual and collective experiences of disability in our teaching and activism. Join us on Monday, April 14th (9:00 am – 2:15 pm) for the free, virtual, pre-conference featuring the following events:

  1. A keynote by Disability Studies scholar Margaret Price, author of, Crip Spacetime:
    Access, Failure, and Accountability in Academic Life. Dr. Price will present new research
    on the experiences of disabled academics.
  2. A presentation by Pamela Cushing on “Disability Studies: State of the Field”
  3. A teaching and pedagogy panel featuring University of Hawai’i faculty sharing the ways
    they include Disability Studies materials, approaches, and pedagogy in their classes.
  4. A graduate student panel showcasing how students from diverse disciplines integrate
    Disability Studies into their scholarship and professional fields.
  5. An open forum with Directors of Disability Studies Programs.

If you plan to join us, please register for the pre-conference day under the “click here to learn more” tab.

At the end of this event, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify innovation and disability activism in the field of Disability Studies.
  2. Increase understanding of the impact of Disability Studies from the perspective of students, scholars, and community members’ experience.
  3. Be knowledgeable on how to support accessible and inclusive academic environments.
Click Here to Learn More