Speaker: Professor Gary Albrecht, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Fellow of the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and Arts, University of Leuven
Title: American Disability Studies: Historical Foundations and Future Directions
Abstract: Disability Studies is a rapidly developing, interdisciplinary field in universities around the world. The field has distinguished itself from the more traditional disciplines in social sciences, humanities, education, psychology and political science that considered disability as the object of their investigations and from the medical school oriented studies and clinical orientation which viewed disability as a deficit, functional limitation and the object of rehabilitation. Disability Studies conceives of disability as the result of interactions between impaired individuals and their environments. In this sense, disability is analyzed on the individual, group and societal levels simultaneously and from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint. Disability Studies is concerned with disability values, representations and realities. This presentation traces the historical and conceptual development of Disability Studies in North America, identifies the key research questions in the area and points to promising directions for future study and investigation.
Zeit: 12:00 – 13:30 Uhr
Speaker: Professor Patrick Devlieger, PhD, Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Leuven, Belgium
Title: Physical Disability in Belgian Minority Groups: Iranian, Congolese, and Jewish Responses
Abstract: The purpose of this presentation is to examine multiple social realities in three different groups who have a very different migration history in the Belgian context, referring to political, colonial, and disaporic histories. We will examine processes in which physical disability in the global-local context leads to marginalization (in the Iranian group), maximization of opportunities (in the Congolese group), and effacement (in the Jewish group). These findings will in turn allow for a discussion that reflects on theories that emphasize stigmatization and normative behavior.
Zeit: 16:00 – 17:30 Uhr
Donnerstag, 10.12.2009, Frangenheimstr. 4, Gebäude 213, Raum 123, Department Heilpädagogik und Rehabilitation, Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität zu Köln