Daily to speak at conferences

Dr. Laurie Daily, the James and Margaret Blekkink Endowed Education Professor at Northwestern College, will present a paper at two upcoming national conferences.

Daily will present “Educating Persons with Disabilities: A Christian Vision for Shalom” at the Student Learning and Global Justice Conference in Vienna, Va., on April 8. The conference is co-sponsored by International Justice Mission and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Daily will give the same presentation at the National Faith, Justice and Civic Learning Conference at DePaul University in Chicago on June 17. 

In her paper, Daily discusses the long history of exclusion and segregation—perpetuated by prejudice, misunderstanding and discrimination—experienced by people with disabilities. She encourages using the biblical concept of shalom or “human flourishing,” as described by Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff, in the education of those with disabilities. The concept, says Daily, provides a vision for ways to advocate for justice, appreciate the “other,” and develop a capacity for empathy. 

A full-time member of Northwestern’s education faculty since 2005, Daily previously directed a field-based special education teacher training program in New Hampshire and participated in the development of professional standards for teachers with the New Hampshire Department of Education. She also coordinated the special education program at Plymouth State College. Daily earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Argosy University and a master’s degree in special education from the University of North Carolina.