The non-formal educational program of disability studies DISABILITY TODAY arose directly from the conclusion of the International conference Why Do We Need Disability Studies? organized by IZ KRUGA VOJVODINA in December 2023. Existing disability studies college courses and foregoing initiatives were presented at the conference. The outcome was that there were significant individual, institutional and extra-institutional initiatives and contributions. However, relevant experts and the interested public do not have one place to gain elementary, contemporary academic knowledge from the disability studies field. The essential recommendation of the conference was to establish a non-formal educational program available to a broad spectrum of profiles that require this knowledge: experts in various fields, representatives of government bodies, persons with disabilities, representatives of their associations, and their family members.
An organizational team – Andjela Kaur, Veronika Mitro, and Svjetlana Timotic, created the educational program DISABILITY TODAY. It aims to distribute contemporary knowledge from the disability studies field via continuous educational work and media promotion and to contribute to substantiating awareness, policies and approaches towards persons with disabilities based on human rights.
The first generation of thirty participants attended the non-formal educational program DISABILITY TODAY from April to July 2024. Twenty-two met the requirements for getting the certificate.
The call for enrollment in the second generation of the non-formal educational studies of disability studies DISABILITY TODAY was announced on February 10, 2025.
The educational program DISABILITY TODAY is designed to enable the participants to, by contemplating disability as a social construct that includes different types of disabilities, gain elementary theoretical, research, and advocacy knowledge. It is necessary for the removal of social, legal, physical, political, and attitude obstacles that exclude persons with disabilities and to empower them to put that knowledge into use later in life. The program includes acquiring knowledge from contemporary theory and methodology of disability studies, familiarizing themselves with the experience of living with disability, and putting things learned to use in activities and research in local communities aimed at enhancing the visibility of the contribution of women and men with disabilities in cultural, artistic, scientific, political and social life. It also includes mapping obstacles persons with disabilities face in exercising their rights, promoting those rights, and the capacities of the community of persons with disabilities in realizing them.
The participants that complete the program DISABILITY TODAY successfully will be able to:
- define critical disability studies
- perceive disability as a social phenomenon
- be informed about the development of the disability rights movement and independent living philosophy
- get to know the international and national framework that promotes and ensures the rights of persons with disabilities and socioeconomic equality for them
- learn to recognize concepts such as segregation, integration, inclusion, and design for all in the world that surrounds them
- analyze discrimination and defiance of disability in legal, medical, educational, and work contexts, as well as in culture, art, and media
- present the contribution of renowned men and women with disabilities from all over the world and region
- interpret disability policy via the lived experience of disability
- get to know about the personal experience of persons with disabilities, especially women with disabilities, in the area of sexual and reproductive rights and gender-based violence.
The Non-formal educational program of disability studies DISABILITY TODAY, second generation, starts on March 6 and ends on June 20, 2025. The curriculum lasts 32 hours of teaching and 12 hours of practical work. In line with the preliminary plan, the curriculum will cover the following topic blocks: Introduction to Disability Studies; Legal Framework for Protection of Persons with Disabilities; From the Movement for the Rights of People with Disabilities to the Philosophy of Independent Living to Community Services; (In)Accessibility and Design for All; Experience and Challenges of Persons with Disabilities; Culture, Art, and Creativity of Persons with Disabilities; Visibility and Activism of Persons with Disabilities; Women and Disability. The lecturers who have already confirmed their attendance are Adrijana Covic, Olj Ilkic, Andjela Kaur, Veronika Mitro, Miodrag Pocuc, Bojana Rudic Pocuc, Milena Stojanovic, Svjetlana Timotic, Ena Todorovic, Otilia Velisek-Brasko, Mimica Zivadinovic.
The educational program will be realized through personal participation in the program (on Thursdays from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the premises of IZ KRUGA VOJVODINA in Novi Sad) and delayed participation in the program at a distance (in a closed Facebook group, with a time gap of no more than 100 hours compared to the program with personal participation, notifications about the modules will be posted as well as lecture recordings, teaching materials, literature and organized discussions, and participants will be able to access the content at the time most convenient for them).
The participants are required to do a final theoretical or practical work. This is done under a 12-hour mentorship. They can choose a mentor from lecturers who have thought about the topic they are processing within the program.
Attendees who participate in 70% of the educational program and prepare a final theoretical or practical paper with mentor support will receive a Certificate of successful completion of the Non-Formal Educational Program of Disability Studies DISABILITY TODAY.
All enrolled students are provided with free literature, teaching materials, refreshments, and participation in the educational program in an architecturally accessible space, with sign language translation.
The DISABILITY TODAY program was created and implemented by IZ KRUGA – VOJVODINA, an organization that supports women with disabilities with the support of the Reconstruction Women’s Fund.
