Opening and Lecture Day #1 Online Summer Course on Disability And Lifespan Development: Indonesia and Global Perspectives

Tuesday (3/8) UGM Center for Lifespan Development (CLSD) held an Opening and Lecture Day #1 Online Summer Course on Disability and Lifespan Development: Indonesia and Global Perspectives. This event is the opening of a series of summer course events which will be held from August to October 2021.

The event was held from 16.30 WIB to 19.00 WIB. This event was attended by 147 participants from various countries.

At the beginning of the event, the committee showed a profile video about UKM Peduli Difabel UGM. This organization focuses on people with disabilities and seeks to build and create an inclusive environment on the campus of Universitas Gadjah Mada.

The event was opened by Prof. Dr. Faturochman, M.A. as the Dean of the Faculty of Psychology UGM. In his remarks, Fatur greatly appreciated this event because it would have a positive impact on inclusive awareness, equality, and shared happiness.

This event was filled by professors of disability studies and education at the School of Education, University of Sheffield, Prof. Dan Goodley, Ph.D. B.Sc (Hons), and moderated and opened by the Head of the CLSD Unit, Elga Andriana S.Psi., M.Ed, Ph.D. In his presentation his presentation entitled “Who’s allowed to be Human?” Dan Goodley invited participants to reflect on the human rights of persons with disabilities which are often neglected.

At the beginning of his presentation, Dan Goodley asked the event participants to think about the condition of people with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic. While everyone is struggling to save their lives, people with disabilities experience a significant impact.

“Who’s allowed to be human?” This is a satirical question in Dan Goodley’s latest book, Society Now: Disability and Human Questions. In his presentation, Dan Goodley told a lot about the contents of his latest book, which is about how modern humans position people with disabilities in an era where technology and information media have developed a lot. In his book Dan Goodley reveals that work and education are often built by excluding persons with disabilities.

And Goodley revealed that in every era discrimination occurs not only experienced by persons with disabilities. Differences in race and skin color often lead to unequal treatment and assumptions.

As time goes by and changes in political, economic, and social conditions, discrimination is increasingly being eroded because it is not in accordance with the spirit of humanism. It is also a breath of fresh air for people with disabilities to get equal rights.

The opening of the summer course went very smoothly. The presenters and participants gave each other feedback and exchanged ideas about the dynamics of persons with disabilities in their respective countries where they live.