ABOUT THE PRIZE
The Jessie Alpaugh Senior Prize in Disability Studies, awarded annually, was established to recognize graduating seniors who are enrolled in the UCLA Disability Studies minor and have developed an outstanding capstone project that contributes to emerging scholarship in the field and also captures their intellectual passion.
ABOUT JESSIE CHARLOTTE BLACKMAR ALPAUGH
The prize is named in honor of Jessie Charlotte Blackmar Alpaugh, an art history major at UC Berkeley who, during the last summer before her sudden death in 2002, worked at UCLA on an independent studies project that contributed to the foundation of UCLA’s Disability Studies minor.
At the age of 16, Jessie had suffered a catastrophic series of neurological illnesses that left her a quadriplegic with severe speech, hearing, and visual impairments. Despite these challenges, Jessie thrived intellectually and was admitted to UC Berkeley in 1999 as a Chancellor’s Scholar. There she found a vibrant group of scholars who were engaged in developing the interdisciplinary field of disability studies. The disability world was never a “club” that Jessie wished to join – the illness that had threatened her life and left her severely disabled deeply saddened her. However, through disability studies she discovered an amazing academic community that simultaneously challenged her mind, respected her experience, and sparked in her a sustaining passion and purpose.
Jessie would be extraordinarily proud of the UCLA Disability Studies program and would be humbled to learn about the senior prize awarded in her name.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Please review the 2025 Jessie Alpaugh Senior Prize Announcement to ensure eligibility BEFORE starting your application.
The prize totals $6,100 split into one or two awards.
In a single pdf document, include the following three items:
- Cover page with the following information:
- Full Name
- Student ID Number
- Enrolled in DIS STD 191, DIS STD 199B or DIS STD 198B
- Please list your 191 instructor or Faculty Mentor for 199B or 198B
- Internship Site
- A 1-page double spaced Capstone project proposal covering the following:
- Working title
- Brief explanation of the project
- Impact your project will have on the field of Disability Studies
- A 1-page double spaced response to the following prompt:
- Disability Studies scholars understand ‘disability’ as a social construction and a dominant lens through which we can understand difference in the world. How has disability studies shaped your perspective of difference? How is your capstone project related to your aspirations and how does it contribute to viable action to advance a just society?
Save the PDF in the following format:
- LastName_FirstName_Application.pdf
- Ex: Block_Gene_Application.pdf
Obtain a copy of your unofficial transcript and save it in the following format:
- LastName_FirstName_Transcript.pdf
- Ex: Block_Gene_Transcript.pdf
Email both files to the Jessie Alpaugh Senior Prize Committee*
Confirmation email:
- You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been received**
Applications are due Monday, May 5, 2025 at 11:59 PM
*Your application materials should be sent directly to the committee via the following email address: 2025.n9qwcw2m9m8zjv3a@u.box.com
**If you do not receive a confirmation email or if you are having issues uploading your application materials, please contact Nicole Chavez.
If you have questions about the application requirements, please contact Nicole Chavez.
Adam, a young man with short brown hair, smiles in front of a mountain landscape. He is wearing a blue sweatshirt and a backpack.
ADAM KIPUST
Major: Psychobiology
Project Title: Developing Disability Studies 19 – Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for People with Disabilities
Adam Kipust is a recent graduate of UCLA with a B.S. in Psychobiology with a minor in Disability Studies. He combines his academic background with practical expertise as an EMT, serving as an Educational Coach for the UCLA Pathway Program. In this role, Adam educates others on self-advocacy when interacting with first responders and guides EMTs on making their services and care accessible to patients with disabilities. His research has led to policy changes at the LA County EMS Agency, including new trainings, and piloting a suicide screening protocol, enhancing the continuum of care for patients experiencing behavioral health emergencies.
In his final year at UCLA, Adam worked with Dr. Lauren Clark to create a course on sexual health and disability, resulting in the curriculum for Disability Studies 19 – Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for People with Disabilities. This curriculum, offered in spring 2024 as a Fiat Lux course, centers the lived experiences of disabled individuals through an unfolding case study approach. Adam’s work addresses critical barriers to disability-competent reproductive healthcare and has been recognized for its actionable scope and potential to influence medical education. Adam intends to continue his impact in the medical field as he enters the MD/MPH program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine where he aims to further integrate his knowledge and passion for disability advocacy into his medical career.
Faith, a young woman with long brown hair, smiles in front of the arches of Royce Hall. She is wearing a white dress and is holding a a blue and gold stole that reads “UCLA Class of 2024”.
FAITH LEE
Major: Human Biology & Society
Project Title: Blurring the Line
Faith Lee graduated from UCLA in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology and Society and a minor in Disability Studies. During her time on campus, Faith’s interests in healthcare and disability justice led her to pursue initiatives in these disciplines. In her internship with the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, Faith wrote public comments on behalf of the association regarding policy updates to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which were submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services and published in the Federal Register. Additionally, she worked alongside physicians and medical students in the Los Angeles Human Rights Initiative to provide pro bono forensic medical evaluations for those seeking asylum. Faith’s other research initiatives focused on examining the effects of Bisphenol A on sensory processing deficits and increasing reproductive healthcare access for women with disabilities. In the future, she aspires to use her involvements at the intersection of medicine and policy to address the social needs within our healthcare systems.
For her UCLA research capstone, Faith produced “Blurring the Line,” a documentary film about the barriers that women with disabilities face when seeking reproductive healthcare. She interviewed four women across the disability continuum, asking each about her ability to receive contraception, undergo thorough examinations (Pap smears, STI testing, pregnancy tests), and physically access an OB-GYN who understands her body. The stories of these women provide a critical analysis of the differences in disabled and nondisabled healthcare experiences, where identifying as a woman often carries a subtle pressure to identify as a nondisabled woman––a woman who is represented in reproductive medicine, can receive medical care without physical accommodations, and resembles the population majority. Such assumptions can produce systems of medicine that discriminate against those who do not fit within this definition.
Given that 82.8% of practicing OB-GYNs in the United States do not receive training on the provision of healthcare to women with disabilities, Faith recognized a need for more resources to educate medical professionals on the populations they care for. Her documentary intends to tactfully inform medical professionals on the biases that can lead to inequitable healthcare, including how these injustices may be practiced and reinforced by the medical professionals who work in these systems. Through the stories of the four women in her film, Faith uses “Blurring the Line” to provide a voice for the disabled community to share their lived experiences with the people who tirelessly care for our health, bridging more communication, collaboration, and understanding between these disciplines. It is her hope that viewers will finish the film with an understanding of reproductive rights as one that is inclusive of disabilities––“blurring the line” between women both with and without them.
| Rowan O’Bryan – 2023 Major: Art Project Title: The Familiar Pinch – Cystic Fibrosis Chronicles |
| Quinn O’Connor – 2022 Major: Theater Project Title: Disability Access and Representation Present in Los Angeles Theaters |
| Kathleen De Nicola – 2021 Major: Dance Project Title: Dancing Beyond the Eye – Using Audio Descriptions to Make Dance Accessible to the Blind and Visually Impaired Community |
| Kristal Orta Martinez – 2021 Major: History Project Title: Investigating the Experiences of Autistic Women of Color: Does the Spectrum Include Women of Color? |
| Veeksha Balasa – 2020 Major: Psychobiology Project Title: More Than a “Public Charge”: An Investigation of the Targeting of Migrants with Disabilities by the U.S. Immigration Regime |
| Amy Bugwadia – 2020 Major: Political Science Project Title: Integration of Disability Studies Frameworks into the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program at UCLA |
| Isita Tripathi – 2020 Major: Neuroscience Project Title: Embracing Neurodiversity: Impacts of an Early Social Skills Intervention on Acceptance and Advocacy among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Social Challenges |
| Avery Horne – 2019 Major: Psychology Project Title: Legalized Ableism: A Look Into the Criminality of Conservatorship Hearings in the U.S. |
| Bethanie Atinuke Sonola – 2019 Major: Psychology Project Title: Mind the Gap: The Role of Special Education in Higher Education Outcomes |
| Juliana Kotz – 2018 Major: Cognitive Science Project Title: Human Rights, Dignity, and Disability Studies: An Investigation of Jail Conditions for People with Psychiatric Disabilities |
| Justin Kawakami – 2017 Major: English Project Title: “Merely more than de minimis”: Establishing Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the United States under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) |
| Miso Kwak – 2017 Major: Psychology Project Title: Relationship Between Accessibility of Music Education and Self-Esteem of Blind/Visually Impaired Students in Grades 6-12 |
| Jaemmie Cañas – 2016 Major: Anthropology Project Title:What Futures Await Foster Youth and Psychiatric Disabilities? |
| Rebecca Snyder – 2016 Major: Psychology Project Title: Examination of Voting Restrictions for Individuals with Mental Disabilities |
| Dianna Padilla – 2015 Major: Anthropology Project Title: Latino Border Town Communities and Autism: An Analysis on Access to Resources for Children with Autism in Nogales, Arizona |
| Nikki Reyes – 2015 Major: English Literature Project Title: SISE – Sensory Integration Strategies for Early Educators (A proposal for Public Early Educators) |
| Brittany Steiminger – 2014 Major: Psychology Project Title: Democratic Schooling: A viable alternative for autistic students? |
| Shayna Svihovec – 2014 Major: Human Biology and Society Project Title: Straddling the Line Between the Deaf and Hearing Communities in a Hearing Dominated World |
| Hannah Warren – 2013 Major: Psychology Project Title: Insurance and Intervention: An Evaluation of the Relationship between Service Access and Socioeconomic Status of Families with Children with Autism |
| Jessica Kianmahd – 2013 Major: Psychology Project Title: Proposing a New Perspective of Disability: Approaching the Persian Jewish Community from a Jewish Lens |
| Paulina Ong – 2012 Major: Physical Science Project Title: Saying Something About Autism: An Evaluation of the Personhood Consciousness Model of Music Therapy |
| Sarah Baron – 2012 Major: Political Science Project Title: Impact of Affordable Care Act for people with disabilities |
| Eunice Im – 2011 Major: English Project Title: What Happened to the Clubhouse? An Investigative Study on a Program for Children with Autism in the UCLA Medical Center |
| Rhiannon Maycumber – 2011 Major: Psychology Project Title: A Qualitative Comparison of Transition Practices for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in California and the United Kingdom |
| Shareen Nizami – 2010 Major: Political Science Project Title: Working with the FMLA: Expanding Rights of the Workforce |
| Michelle Tang – 2010 Major: English Project Title: Center Stage: How a Passion for the Performing Arts Help Deaf/hard of Hearing Individuals Find a Social Outlet and Overcome Their Disability |
| Arezo Ahmadi – 2024 |
| Samantha Chang – 2022 |
| Nanami Murata – 2022 |
| Priyanka Bhakta – 2021 |
| Natalie Hynes – 2021 |
| Haley Gamboa – 2019 |
| Samantha Mallari – 2019 |
| Claudine Ignacio – 2018 |
| Elaine Lu – 2018 |
| Amanda Mekhail – 2017 |
| Hayley McAvoy – 2017 |
| Lindsey Hoffman – 2016 |
| Vanessa Magula – 2016 |
| Ana Zepeda – 2016 |
| Cindy Sayani – 2015 |
| Kristen Lee – 2015 |
| Brianna Mitchell- 2013 |
| James Choi – 2012 |
| Jenna Rodman – 2012 |
| Laura Merchant – 2010 |
| Lillian Kong – 2010 |