Syracuse University College of Law tackles disability and human rights issues in Spring 2004

Syracuse University College of Law tackles disability and human rights issues in Spring 2004January 30, 2004Nicci Brownnicbrown@syr.edu

The College of Law at Syracuse University will focus on issues surrounding disability and human rights in its Spring 2004 speaker series. Speakers will include:

Jan. 30: Eric Rosenthal, founder and executive director of Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI), an advocacy organization dedicated to the international recognition and enforcement of the rights of people with mental disabilities. Rosenthal has traveled around the world investigating abuses of people with disabilities.

March 1 Judith Heumann, advisor on disability to The World Bank and former assistant secretary of education in the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton Administration.

April 1: Peter Blanck, the Charles and Marion Keirscht Professor of Law and Public Health and director of the Law, Health Policy and Disability Center at the University of Iowa College of Law.

“In many countries, people with disabilities still are subject to abuse and stigmatization – this can come in the form of forced institutionalization or discrimination,” says Arlene Kanter, SU professor of law and director of clinical legal education and co-director of the University’s new joint degree program in law and education/disability studies. Kanter organized the speaker series with Professor Peg Herman of the Global Affairs Institute of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “The speaker series is particularly timely in light of the treaty on the rights of people with disabilities worldwide, currently being drafted by the United Nations. The series’ goal is to bring together people who work for and write about human rights protections for people with disabilities worldwide and to stimulate exciting discussion and suggestions for concrete actions on how the University community can take action.”

All discussions will take place from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Room 201 of MacNaughton Hall. The speaker series is sponsored by SU’s College of Law, The SPIRE committee on NGOs and Civil Society, the SU Disabilities Studies Program, the Global Affairs Institute of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the College of Law’s Center for Global Law and Practice, the Center on Human Policy, the Disability Law Society and the Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee.

The speaker series is free and open to the public. Paid visitor parking is offered on a space-available basis in the Irving and University Avenue Garages.