Validity Foundation,the European Network on Independent Living, Disability Rights International, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, the International Disability Alliance, the International Disability and Development Consortium, and the Disability Rights Fund/Disability Rights Advocacy Fund are pleased to invite you to the launch of the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor report.

The conference entitled, “Histories, Practices and Policies of Disability”, brought over 150 scientists together from 05 to 06 September 2019 to discuss international, comparative and transdisciplinary perspectives on disability. The two-day English-language event was enriched by three keynote lectures by historian Prof. Susan Burch (Middlebury College, USA), cultural sociologist Prof. Michael Schillmeier (University of Exeter, UK) and political scientist Prof. Mark Priestley (University of Leeds, UK). The participants represented a broad spectrum of international research on disability in the cultural and social sciences. The conference was hosted by Prof. Anne Waldschmidt (International Research Unit in Disability Studies – iDiS, University of Cologne) and Prof. Matthias Otten (TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences) in collaboration with Prof. Isabelle Ville (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales – EHESS, Paris).

https://www.th-koeln.de/hochschule/8-internationale-fachtagung-geschichten-praktiken-und-politiken-von-behinderung_68240.php

https://alterconf2019.sciencesconf.org

Today, disability is understood as a multidimensional phenomenon, specific construction, and multifaceted field of research that is researched internationally, comparatively and across disciplines. In Germany, Disability Studies is a relatively young field of research. In international and European countries, on the other hand, there is a longer, extremely diverse research tradition. For the first time in German-speaking countries, ALTER, the European Society for Disability Research, based in Paris, is organising its 8th Annual Conference 2019 at the University of Cologne.

September 1-4, 2019

This year’s doctoral school, (Self)Representing disAbILITY, is linked to the 8th Annual Conference of ALTER-ESDR’s theme: Histories, Practices and Policies of Disability: International, Comparative and Transdisciplinary Perspectives, which is linked to disABILITY MUNDUS, a group of European academics and universities who are actively engaged in and support scholarly research on disability. It takes place in cooperation with the University of Cologne, The Graduate School of the Faculty of Human Sciences, and iDiS, the International Research Unit in Disability Studies.