Expanding the Universe of Universities: Disability Rights and Disability Studies
Date: 26th October, 2016.
Venue : Maulana Azad National Urdu University , Telecom Nagar, Gachibowli, Hyderabad – 500032. Telangana., India.
The lecture takes off from the premise that universities need to be spaces of learning for all. Any exclusion of the learner is exclusion of learning and the attendant knowledge.
In direct opposition to this inclusive approach is the more exclusive perspective towards higher education, where learning is seen as the reserve of the privileged few and is pursued in rarefied climes by exceptional scholars.
Universities from this viewpoint are spaces for exceptional scholars engaged in acquiring expertise in designated disciplines. In the past few decades the various cohorts of dedicated studies: Women, Dalit have challenged the Approach of the Exceptional.
They have by questioning the constructed nature of knowledge demonstrated how exclusion has fractured the creation of knowledge and thereby restricted human understanding. In full acknowledgement of the contributions made by these cohorts of other studies, the lecture elaborates on what disability rights and studies bring to the table, how they expand the universe of Universities and why without Disability Rights and Studies the constitution of the learning universe is incomplete.
Lecture:
Professor Amita DhandaProfessor of Law and Head, Centre for Disability Studies,
NALSAR University of Law, HyderabadProfessor Amita Dhanda is Professor of Law at NALSAR University where she also heads the Centre for Disability Studies. Dr Dhanda has for more than 30 years been engaging with questions of disability law and policy both nationally and internationally. At present, she is especially interested in the intersections between disability and non-disability —an insight she draws upon to advocate for inclusive learning, administrative and social environments.
Contact Details
Email : shilpaa.anand@gmail.com