Dr. Filippo Trevisan discusses his latest research at three Australian universities

IDPP Deputy Director and Assistant Professor at American University’s School of Communication Dr. Filippo Trevisan recently traveled to Australia to present his work on persons with disabilities and online political participation at several universities. 

The first presentation was part of the Political Action in the Digital Age Workshop at the University of Melbourne on June 29th-30th. This workshop was organized by the Political Organization and Participation (POP) standing group of the Australian Political Science Association and brought together over 30 scholars from leading universities to discuss the latest trends in campaigning and collective and connective forms of political action, organization and participation in the digital age. Dr. Trevisan presented a paper titled “When in Shock, Turn to the Internet: Virtual Disability Protest at Donald Trump’s Inauguration,” which discussed the virtual response of the American disability community to the election of the 45th U.S. President.

On July 3rd, Dr. Trevisan was invited by the Disability Research Network and the Society Health and Disability Research Group at the University of Newcastle (New South Wales) to talk about his latest book Disability Rights Advocacy Online: Voice, Empowerment and Global Connectivity, which was recently published by Routledge. This event was a part of the Disability Research Network’s Lunchtime Seminar Series and virtual participation was also available via Blackboard Collaborate. You can check out the #DisabilityRighteUON hashtag on Twitter for a summary of the event and hear Dr. Trevisan talk about his book here.

Finally, on July 5th Dr. Trevisan’s took part in an innovative panel discussion on “Disability and Digital Citizenship” at the Australia-New Zealand Communication Association’s Conference 2017 (ANZCA 2017). As part of this panel, which brought together researchers exploring different aspects of digital inclusion for persons with disabilities such as the digital economy, smart cities, and online political participation, Dr. Trevisan discussed his paper Digital Election Campaigns and Voters with Disabilities: Missing a Key Constituency?

IDPP at COSP-10: Three side events, conference rapporteurs and the Double

IDPP participated, for its seventh consecutive year, in the Conference of States Parties (COSP-10) to the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN Headquarters in New York on June 13-15, 2017. COSP-10 is one of the largest and most important gatherings of the global disability community. IDPP has traditionally had multifaceted participation at the conference and this year was no different.

IDPP faculty including Dr. Derrick Cogburn, Dr. Filippo Trevisan, and Dr. Tina Kempin-Reuter attended the conference along with IDPP Doctoral Fellow Mr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy. IDPP Program Associate Della Leonor also attended the event via the "Double" robot. (Read about her experience here.) IDPP and the Institute for Human Rights at University of Alabama-Birmingham also brought a delegation of graduate and undergraduate students who served as official conference rapporteurs. Daniella Decker, a Junior at the Kogod School of Business, American University and Safiya Zenobia Mann, a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh represented IDPP as rapporteurs. (Read about Safiya's experience as a rapporteur here.)

At the conference, IDPP organized three side events and co-sponsored two. The first side event on June 13 highlighted Dr Cogburn and Dr Kempin-Reuter's book "Making Disability Rights Real" on the implementation of the UN CRPD in Southeast Asia. It was co-sponsored by The Permanent Mission of Senegal; Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; UNDESA/DSPD; Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ICT), and the Institute for Human Rights, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The second side event on June 14 discussed the use of big data analytics to monitor the implementation of the UN CRPD and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It was co-organized by UN DESA, Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and co-sponsored by AXS Lab, Inc.; UN Expert Network on Monitoring and Evaluation of Disability and Development (MEDD); and the Institute for Human Rights, University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

On June 15, IDPP organized a side event on "Accessible Global Governance" highlighting our recent research work in the area. It was co-sponsored by Permanent Mission of Ecuador, International Disability Alliance; Disabled People’s International; G3ict; GAATES; World Enabled; AXS Lab Inc.; Special Olympics; Assistive Technology Development Organization, US International Council on Disabilities and Rehabilitation International. Ms. Stefanie Dannenman, Deputy Head, UNISDR Europe, made her presentation during this side event via the Double . 

On the same day, IDPP also co-sponsored two other side events: Implementation of SDGs and CRPD organized by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and "Smart Cities for all" organized by the World Enabled, Permanent Mission of the UAE & G3ICT. 

IDPP is proud to have been a part of many fruitful and productive discussions over the three days and we're looking forward to putting many of the ideas discussed into practice.