International Conference to be held on 25-26 November 2018
Organizers:
- Leiden University
- ERC Rethinking Disability
- Embassy of the Netherlands in Cairo
- Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo
Languages: English and Arabic (Presentations should preferably be in English)
Keynote Speakers
- Dr Heba Hagrass (International disability consultant- Member of the Egyptian Parliament)
- Dr Shaun Grech (The Critical Institute- Malta)
- Prof Monika Baar (Leiden University- The Netherlands)
Call for papers:
The socio-cultural issues concerning the lives of the persons with disabilities (PWD), their families and their environment present considerable challenges even in well-resourced regions of the world; let alone in countries experiencing certain economic or societal hardships. In either context, the study of the emancipation of people with disabilities cannot be undertaken without a broader enquiry into the historical, cultural and social contexts of the disabled citizens living in different times and locations around the world.
In recent decades, representatives of the emerging fields of medical humanities and disability studies have been constantly facing intellectual challenges arising from accelerating scientific developments in medicine and the bio sciences. These developments intrigued sociologists, historians, anthropologists etc. to dedicate more attention than ever before to the social and cultural aspects of the human body and human health. For instance, the enormous differences in health care expenditures across the world present an angle from which to ask questions about social justice, discrimination, exclusion, integration and the responsibility of the state or civil society towards certain groups with vulnerabilities. Disability is a concept around which social scientists can construct or deconstruct relations and representations between health and society, while scholars working in cultural studies may interrogate the formation of a distinct identity and sub-culture of people with disabilities. The MENA region with its cultural and historical peculiarities, and the Global South in more general terms, promises to be a very important location for analyzing how issues of physical and mental health intersect with social and economic concerns.
With a focus on the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region and the Global South, themes and topics of this international academic conference can include but are not limited to:
- Disability and its perception(s) and meanings through history:
- Disability in relation to technology: good practices and ethical problems
- Islam and disability (physical and mental)
- Education for and about the persons with disability: specialized institutions versus independent living, community-based rehabilitation (CBR)
- Rights, representation and equality of PWD: strive for equality or demand for special conditions? (work, housing, access, education)
- UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006): given the local peculiarities, what challenges may occur in the course of its implementation in the MENA region?
- Disability and welfare: what responsibilities should be carried by the state, by individuals, philanthropic organizations and by society at large?
- Children, gender, women and sexuality in relation to historic and contemporary issues of disability
- International and regional organizations of disability groups: the MENA region in a global context
- Disability figuring and images in literature and cinema
- Stigmatization of PWD and strategies of de-stigmatization
- Disability culture: arts, activities and self expression
- Accessibility, integration and inclusion: PWD and the actual/virtual public space in MENA
The conference is open to participants from the academia as well as for social activists and governmental representatives. An edited volume to be published by an international publisher is planned for selected research papers presented during the conference.
Presentations are welcome in English and Arabic but are preferred in English for practical reasons. Each presentation would be 20 minutes followed by a 10minutes discussion in a themed panel.
Proposals for cultural and artistic activities, whether presented by or about persons with disabilities, are welcome. The venue is accessible to participants and guests with disability.
Deadline: Please send a 300-500- word paper/activity proposal in English or Arabic before September 1st 2018 to (rethinking.disability.cairo@gmail.com)
For requests of participation, paper proposal or artistic contribution, kindly send your CV to the email address above.
For inquiries or questions kindly contact Dr Amany Soliman a.soliman@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Limited budget for contributing to the travel and accommodation of international participants with outstanding proposals is available on a competitive basis. This is intended for those who are not eligible for funding from their home institutions and who are committed to contributing to the envisaged edited volume. Please indicate at the time of application if you would like to be considered for a subsidy.
Kindly find the Arabic description.
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Programme:
Cleveringa Annual Conference
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Disability:
The MENA Region in the Modern Period
Cairo 25-26 November 2018
Venue: Italian Cultural Institute in Zamalek-Cairo
Day 1 Sunday November 25th 2018
Registration: 9:00 – 9:30 AM
*****
Opening and Welcome Remarks: 9:30-10 AM
Dr. Rudolf De Jong
Director- Netherlands -Flemish Institute in Cairo
Dr. Paolo Sabbatini
Director- Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo
Prof. Monika Baár
Leiden University, the Netherlands
*****
Panel I: Keynote Speeches
10:00- 11:30 AM
Dr. Heba Hagrass
Member of the Egyptian Parliament and International Disability Consultant
“Transforming the Reality of Persons with Disabilities in Egypt: A Look Forward”
Dr. Shaun Grech
Critical Institute-Malta
“Disability and Poverty: Engaging Critical Disability Studies”
*****
Coffee Break 11:30-11:45
*****
Panel II: Disability in Modern History
11:45-1:45 PM
Moderator: Prof. Sara Scalenghe
– Dr. Gildas Brégain
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, et L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique, France
“The Transformations of the Policies of Assistance to the Blind in North Africa during the 20th Century (Algeria – Tunisia)”
– Dr. Abdelwahab Shaker
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
“Forgotten Voices: The Egyptian Labor Corps, Disability and the First World War”
– Mr. Sam De Schutter
Leiden University, the Netherlands
“A Pan-African Rehabilitation Network: The Creation of the African Rehabilitation Institute (ARI) in the 1980s”
*****
Lunch Break 2:00-2:45 PM
*****
Panel III: Disability, Technology and Social Media
2:45- 4:00 PM
Moderator: Dr. Rudolf De Jong
– Dr. Heba Fawzi El-Masry
Tanta University, Egypt
“The Taboo of Disability in Egypt: A Sociological Approach to Intra-lingual Translation of the Concept of Disability on Twitter”
– Dr. Engi Aboul-Ezz
Beni Suef University, Egypt
“The Image of PWD in Social Media, and its Reflection on Egyptian Users in Daily Life”
– Mr. Mohamed Sobhi
Bibliotheca Alexandrina , Egypt
“Human-Computer Interaction to Design the Smart Education System (SES) for Visually Impaired Users”
*****
Panel IV: Collective views on disability in the Arab World
4:00- 5:30 PM
Moderator: Prof. Monika Baár
– Prof. Sara Scalenghe
Loyola University, USA
“History of Special Education in the Arab World”
– Dr. Amany Soliman
Alexandria University and Leiden University
“The Arab Decade for Persons with Disability: Pan-Arab Civil Society Efforts and Disability Movements (1998-2014)”
*****
Coffee Break 5:30- 5:45 PM
*****
Panel V:
UNCRPD: Applications and challenges from the Arab World
5:45-7:00 PM
Moderator: Mr. Shaun Grech
– Dr. Majid Turmusani
UN disability consultant- Canada
“Challenges and Opportunities for the Implementation of CRPD in the Middle East: Insights from Iraq and Qatar”
– Dr. Riham Debian
Alexandria University- Egypt
“Into Arabic: UNCRPD’S Rights Discourse and the Politics of Interpretation in Translation”
*****
Roundtable Discussion
Views from Western Europe: Interdisciplinary Studies of Disability
7:00-8:00 PM
Moderator: Mr. Sam De Schutter
– Ms. Anaïs van Ertvelde
Leiden University, the Netherlands
– Ms. Anna Derksen
Leiden University, the Netherlands
______________________________________________
Day 2 Monday November 26th 2018
Panel VI: Disability in Arab Cinema and Literature
9:30- 10:45 AM
Moderator: Dr. Riham Debian
– Dr. Rasha ElGohary
Misr International University, Egypt
“The Story of Illness and Disability in Egyptian Movies”
– Ms. Basma Shelbaya
Cairo University, Egypt
“War, Violence and Disability in Literature: Comparative Texts from Syria and Europe”
*****
Panel VII: Success Stories from the Arab World
10:45- 12:45 PM
Moderator: Dr. Gildas Brégain
– Dr. Ghaleb ElNahedi
Sattam Ibn Abdelaziz University, Saudi Arabia
“The Positive Impact of Including Students with Intellectual Disabilities: in Saudi Arabia Schools”
– Taha Hussein Library for the blind and visually impaired
Bibliotheca Alexandrina- Egypt
– Helm Foundation presented by Ms. Amena EL-Saie
“Society without Barriers”
NGO, Egypt
*****
Coffee Break 12:45-1:00 PM
*****
Panel VIII: PWD Training and Integration in Egypt
1:00-3:00 PM
Moderator: Dr. Majid Turmusani
– Prof. Eman Mahfouz
Minia University- Egypt
“Linking Prevention and Equity Concept in Managing Disability”
– Dr. Mai Eid
Aswan University, Egypt
“Towards Universal Design in Architectural Education in Egypt”
– Dr. Dalia Elganzoury
Mansoura University, Egypt
“Civil Society and the PWD Community: Views from the Egyptian Delta”
– Mr. Ahmed Abouelsaad
Cairo University, Egypt
“Measuring/Analyzing the Inclusiveness of Schools from Architecture Perspective”
*****
Lunch Break 3:00- 3:45 PM
*****
Panel VIIII:
Disability between Islamic Shariaa and Civil Legislations
3:45- 5:15 PM
Moderator: Dr. Amany Soliman
– Prof. Hassan Sanad
Dean of the Faculty of Law, Minia University
“The Rights of the PWD between International Conventions and Egyptian Legislations”
– Dr. Mohamed Fawzi Abdelhay
AlAzhar University, Egypt
“Disability and Islamic Jurisprudence in Modern Times”
– Dr. Hamada Hassan
Minia University, Egypt
“From Islamic Shariaa to International Law: Protection of the PWD”
*****
Panel X:
Religiosity and Disability: Applications from Muslim Societies
5:15- 6:30 PM
Moderator: Dr. Mohamed Fawzi Abdelhay
– Ms. Bouchra Yahia
Radboud Nijmegen University, the Netherlands
“Islamic psychology: A religious perspective on human nature and mental health”
– Dr. Gihan Othman
Alexandria University, Egypt
“Religiosity and Emotional Balance: Application on Muslim PWD Egyptian Children”
– Ms. Hadil Lababidi
Friedrich- Alexander University, Germany
“Perspectives on Dementia in Islam”
*****
Coffee Break 6:30- 6:45 PM
*****
Cleveringa Annual Lecture
6:45- 8:00 PM
Prof. Monika Baár
Professor of History- Leiden University
Principal Investigator of ERC project: The Global Impact of IYPD 1981in Historical Perspective
“Historical Aspects on the Community Building, Integration and Quality of Life of People with Disabilities”
Introduced by: Dr. Said Fares
Leiden University Alumnus – Lecturer at AlAzhar University