During the 2022-2023 academic year, Professor Macfarlane served as Special Counsel to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. There, she worked on the Department’s overhaul of the regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, focusing on the regulations’ higher education provisions.

Her scholarship has appeared in or will appear in theÌýFordham Law Review,ÌýNorth Carolina Law Review,ÌýAlabama Law Review,ÌýYale Law Journal Forum,ÌýColumbia Law Review Forum,ÌýAmerican University Law Review,Ìýthe William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, andÌýthe Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, among others. She is also a frequent contributor to the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School Bill of Health Blog.ÌýHer civil procedure scholarship has focused on federal courts’ local rules and practices. From 2016 to 2019, Professor Macfarlane was a member of the District of Idaho’s Local Rules Advisory Committee and led a review of the rules’ compliance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 83.ÌýTheÌýSouthern District of New York adopted Professor Macfarlane’s recommendations regarding its related cases rules.

She received her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. After graduating law school, she served as a law clerk to the Hon. Arthur Alarcón, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Hon. Frederick Martone, U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Kat is admitted to practice in New York (active) andÌýCalifornia (inactive). She speaks Spanish and Italian.

]]> /faculty-experts/christine-ashby/ Mon, 30 Jan 2023 16:38:43 +0000 /?post_type=faculty-experts&p=167881 Christine (Christy) Ashby is a professor of inclusive special education and disability studies and the director of theÌý, a research center that promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of school and society—both locally and globally. She has also served as coordinator of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to certification in childhood and special education. Since joining the School of Education faculty in 2007, her teaching and research has focused on inclusive education, communicative diversity, disability studies and inclusive teacher preparation, with specific emphasis on the experiences of autistic and neurodivergent students. Her work seeks to disrupt dominant notions of disability as deficiency and underscores the importance of centering the voices of disabled people in research and practice.

Professor Ashby’s teaching and research focus on inclusive education broadly, with specific emphasis on supports for students with labels of autism and other developmental disabilities, communicative diversity, disability studies, and clinically rich teacher preparation. Her work seeks to disrupt dominant notions of disability as deficiency and underscores the importance of considering the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities and creating contexts for competence in inclusive schools and communities.

Ashby’s work has been published in journals including theÌýEquity and Excellence in Education,ÌýInternational Journal of Inclusive Education,ÌýDisability and Society,ÌýTeacher Education and Special Education,ÌýandÌýIntellectual and Developmental Disability. Her co-edited book,ÌýEnacting Change from Within: Disability Studies Meets Teaching and Teacher EducationÌýexplores how disability studies can inform the practical work of teachers. She is also the co-editor of Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning. Current collaborative projects with the Syracuse City School District focus on issues of equity related to special education service provision and access to fine arts, athletics and accelerated classes for students across a variety of demographic factors.

Ashby earned an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York College at Geneseo and a master’s in special education, certificate of advanced study in disability studies and Ph.D. in special education from Syracuse University. She was an inclusive special education teacher before beginning her university career. Ashby is co-chair of the Disability Access and Inclusion Council, served as co-chair of the Public Impact Working Group for the Academic Strategic Plan and was a member of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Senate from 2018 to 2023. She was also selected as a member of the inaugural Women in Leadership cohort. She is currently faculty representative to the Syracuse University Board of Trustees.